Photo Illustration

By Mark Wilmoth

A little boy prepared his letter to Santa. “I’ve been good for 6 months,” he wrote, but then, after a moment’s reflection, the boy crossed out “six” and wrote, “three.” After another pause, he crossed that out and wrote “two weeks.” He soon crossed that out, too. The little boy walked to the table where his mother had placed a manger scene, picked up the figure of Mary, and then wrote, “Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again…”

Cambridge University researchers Maurice Galton and Jon Macbeath reported that many elementary school students lack the social skills needed to succeed in the classroom. By the time these children reach school age, they have already learned to manipulate the adults around them. For example, one parent confessed that, after great effort, she got her 5-year-old to go to bed at 1 a.m. rather than 3 a.m. Another parent told about her 7-year-old smashing his Sony PlayStation in a temper tantrum, and then refusing to behave for the next week until she caved in and bought him a new one. After hearing the stories and reviewing the statistics from their study, Galton and Macbeath concluded, “Motivating certain children…had become more difficult because by the time they came to school many of these children had become experts in manipulating adults. Children arrive at school knowing too much and not enough.”

It isn’t just mischievous children who manipulate. When the government shuts down, Republicans and Democrats try to manipulate voters and pin the blame on the other party. Advertisers manipulate consumer behavior, and pollsters phrase questions to get the answers they need to manipulate public opinion. I read about one preacher who manipulated the giving of his congregation. Before the collection was taken, he announced, “I would like to request that the person who stole the chickens from Brother Martin’s henhouse refrain from giving any money to the Lord. The Lord doesn’t want money from a thief.” That Sunday, for the first time in months, everybody gave!

In the Bible, King Saul of Israel attempted to manipulate God. In 1 Kings 15:2-3 (NIV), God instructed Saul, “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Saul defeated the Amalekites, but he didn’t obey God’s instructions. 1 Samuel 15:9 records, “But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs–everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” When the prophet, Samuel, confronted Saul about this disobedience and Saul responded that he had merely kept the best of the livestock alive so that they could be sacrificed before the Lord, God didn’t buy Saul’s excuse. “Although you were once small in your own eyes,” Samuel said, “did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?” Samuel pronounced God’s verdict: Saul’s disobedience meant that God rejected him as King of Israel; Saul would be replaced.

God can’t be manipulated because He knows us too well – our desires, disappointments, joys and our motives. In 1 Samuel 8:39, as Solomon prayed at the dedication of the Temple, he asked God to “… deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart).” God isn’t fooled by desperate promises in prayer and excuses don’t change God’s mind about sin. The Hebrew writer tells us that “…the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

So if you’ve sinned, confess and repent instead of making excuses. If you want something from God, ask, but be honest with God, and with yourself, about your motives. Don’t, for even a moment, imagine that you can be manipulative and get by with it. God knows.

Mark Wilmoth is with Pinehurst Christian Church in Marietta and can be reached at Minister@PinehurstChristianChurch.org