# Bible in a Year, Day 14: When the Same Sin Returns Abraham repeated the same lie in Genesis 20, and God still kept his promise. Jack Graham shows what that means when an old sin comes back into your own life. Source: Pray.com — https://www.pray.com/articles/bible-in-a-year-day-14-when-the-same-sin-returns Author: Jack Graham Category: Faith & Wisdom Published: 2026-10-21 Last revised: 2026-10-21 --- ## Today's reading Today's reading is Genesis 20, where Abraham again says that Sarah is his sister, and God steps in to protect her and the promise he made. > God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.” > > ([Genesis 20:6-7](/bible/web/genesis-20/#v6), WEB) ## Reflection Pastor Jack Graham calls this story déjà vu. Back in Egypt, Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister, and here he does the same thing in front of King Abimelech. Graham points out that it was technically a half truth, since Sarah was his half sister. But as he put it, "a half truth told a whole lie and it became a deception." Abimelech took Sarah into his household, but before anything happened, God came to him in a dream and told him he was a dead man if he touched her. Abimelech protested that he did not know, and God answered that he did know, and that this was why he kept Abimelech from sinning against him. Graham calls the next part stunning. God protected a pagan king from the deception of a man of faith, and then had Abraham pray for Abimelech's healing. The man of the promise had to intercede for the man he had deceived. Graham does not excuse Abraham. "You think Abraham would have learned his lesson," he says, and then he names the cause: "fear has a way of making us repeat our worst mistakes." He adds, "Even the heroes of faith are flawed and sinful." Abraham stumbled twice, and Graham admits that we sometimes keep committing the same sin too. Yet the story rests on God's faithfulness. Graham says that "God does not depend upon our perfection, but the direction of our lives" and that we should be going in the right direction, trusting God's own faithfulness and love to keep us when we don't deserve it. Abraham's lies could not destroy what God had determined to do. Graham ties this to the gospel. Where we lie and scheme, Jesus is the truth, and his righteousness covers every sin. In Christ, "when God sees us he sees Jesus, not our sin". ## Take it with you - Is there a sin you thought was behind you that has come back? Tell God about it honestly today. - Fear pushed Abraham into his lie. What fear might be shaping your choices right now? - Ask yourself whether your life is heading in the right direction, and rest your hope on God's faithfulness. ## Prayer Father, you know the sins I keep repeating and the fears behind them. I confess them to you. Thank you for staying faithful when I am not. Turn my life toward you again today, and help me trust that in Christ you see his righteousness covering me. Give me the courage to tell the truth where fear tempts me to hide. Keep me when I do not deserve it, and keep your promises alive in me. Amen.