But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. - Acts 24:14-16.

You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. - Leviticus 19:11.

Sofia Aguilar’s car, a Mitsubishi 3000 GT, was having some transmission problems and she did what most of us would do, she took her car to a mechanic. Rocky Castilleja, a San Antonio, Texas mechanic for weeks told Sofia that her car was not yet repaired. When she went by the mechanic’s shop to check on it in person she found the car had an extra 190 miles on the odometer. Castilleja explained that the extra miles was a result of diagnostic testing, which seemed reasonable to Sofia. Several weeks later (Her car had not yet been returned.), Sofia and her family went to the races. She was shocked to see her mechanic on the track, and…he was driving her car!! Upon closer inspection they found that it was indeed her car and with an additional 340 miles on it. Sofia called the police and the mechanic claimed that Sofia, “knew I was going to test drive her car.” However, after a short investigation officers arrested Castilleja for unlawful use of a vehicle.

It is amazing the creative license some take with the truth! Too many times, I have been disappointed to learn that someone has looked me in the eyes and lied. It is hard for me to understand why a person would persistently tell one lie after another unless they do not know the Lord as their Savior. I will confess that I have lied before, but it is not something that I can do habitually, because it wounds my conscience and grieves the Holy Spirit. I, as did the apostle Paul, strive to keep my conscience clear before God and man, because to do otherwise is much too painful.

Why did the apostle Paul strive to keep his conscience clear? As he explained before Felix, he had hope in God. In other words, he believed that God was real, and that there would someday be an accounting for our actions. Paul had a fear, a reverence, and respect for God, because he looked beyond to eternity. There is more to life than what just meets our eyes. There is something more important than any situation where we are tempted to tell an untruth to make things better for us, or to make ourselves look better. God knows exactly what we are doing. Let us ponder very carefully our actions in view of the eternal fact that there is a God and some bright shining day we who know Jesus as our Savior will walk by sight in His presence.