11.5.13

Ezekiel 13:10 This will happen because these evil prophets deceived my people by saying, "All is peaceful" when there is no peace at all.  It's as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!

My Thoughts
When I read the words whitewash, I though of white lies.  These prophets didn't want people, especially kings who could have them killed to dislike them.  So they said what the people wanted to hear. God called them evil. 

As I child I was taught to tell "white lies" to spare hurt feelings.  You know the kind, the phone rings (back in the day of no caller id) and your mom says, "If that is so in so tell them I am not at home."  A white lie to spare someones feelings... my mom didn't want to talk to them, but didn't want to hurt their feelings.  There are other examples, "I love this dress! Do you like it" and you answer, "yes" when your mind screams NO!  The list can go on...and some of the white lies you learn to tell... become more of a gray.  When you are taught something as a child, by a parent who has good intentions... you do what you are taught.  And sometimes you even pass these things down to your children...and them to their children.

The more I read God's word the more I understand how harmful these things can be in our lives and in the lives of the people around us.  A white lie...is white wash...it is something that makes things look better than what the truth is. And as harmless as a white lie seems it does not please God.  And as small as a white lie seems it could have consequences that we never intended.  What if we told a "white" lie about a dress being pretty...and that dress was worn to a job interview? The way that person looked in that dress could make all the difference.  We never ever know how far the ripples of a "white" lie reach.  God understand this...and in this verse I learn that we are not to white wash anything... we are to say everything with love and kindness... even if it stings a little. 

If you think about it... white washing the truth only benefits you... we are taught that it is for the benefit of others... but in reality it isn't. It makes us look sweet while the person we told a white lie to walk around in an ugly dress.  Is that kind... or would the truth been kinder?  The truth is always kinder if we could see the big picture.  God sees the big picture enough to warn us that white washing things is evil in His eyes.