You shall not steal.
Exodus 20:15
Why do we steal?
What does theft show about our character?
How does it illustrate the depravity of our minds?
In John 10:10 we read that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”
When we steal we show ourselves to have the like character of the one who destroys. When we purposely steal it is always out of pure selfishness. We take something that belongs to another because we desire it and refuse to wait for it or work for it.
Sometimes we steal out of self preservation. I love this prayer in the Proverbs:
Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:7-9
Some steal from another because they have not the faith to believe that God will provide for their every need. They have not come to stand on the promise of Psalm 37:25, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”
I think that usually when we hear of someone stealing in order to feed themselves or their family we do not view it as evil, we are much more inclined to scream mercy rather than justice in this case.
“Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry;” Proverbs 6:30.
However even this reason does not make stealing permissable.
Sometimes we steal things unintentionally.
My girls joke with me about being a pen thief. I do not steal pens on purpose, but for some reason whenever I borrow one to use at a store or another location, I will walk out every time with this borrowed pen in my hand.
I do not enter into the store with a predetermined plan of intent to steal the pen. I will even use the pen in the store and be determined to remember to return the pen, but then I will go right on and end up walking out with the pen in my hand. Then my girls will start singing, “Momma is a pen thief, Momma is a pen thief”
I used to shrug this “petty theft” off with a head shake of frustration and drive off with the pen because I did not want to be inconvenienced with having to walk back into the store, confess my sin, and return the pen. However, now I take the time to return the pen.
Possibly the song of my children helped to encourage this, or possibly just the simple fact that they were watching me. The right thing to do was to return the pen, no matter how much it inconvenienced me at the time. My girls seeing me love God by honoring and obeying His commands was definitely most important.
This command of “thou shalt not steal” also shows us that God created us with intent to possess things. Genesis 15:7 reads, “And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
To steal something someone else has to have ownership of it. All the world belongs to God and everything in it (Psalm 50:12). God owns the world but He created man and said here this is yours, take care of it.
He then divides things to us as individuals and families and nations.
This is yours.
Be content with what is yours and do not steal what is another’s.
God wants us to possess our possessions. We are to possess the possessions; the possessions are not to possess us.
That is where the trouble comes in isn’t it?
When we allow the possessions to possess us?
When the things of this earth rule over and subdue us instead of us ruling over and subduing the earth (Genesis 1:28)?
This is why Jesus said..
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
We must honor God in this command and not attempt to justify stealing, no matter the excuse we have, whether it be fear, hunger, ignorance, or pure selfishness and greed.
Let us make the possession of the kingdom of heaven and the inheritance of Christ our main focus and be content with what we have and live a life of righteousness. Let us walk in righteousness and seek to honor God in our everyday lives and let us trust Him to add to us only what will not take us away from our knowledge of dependence on Him.
Oh Father,
I love You. I thank You for Your Word, and I pray again the prayer of Agur in the Proverbs. My Lord, keep deception and lies far from me and give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion for I do not want to become so full that I deny You or forget You and I do not want to be in such want that I steal and dishonor You in my attempt to meet my daily needs. May I trust You each day for my daily bread remembering that it is You who brought quail from out of nowhere and manna from the heavens and water from the rock.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,
Amen