There have been many famous thieves throughout human history and in fiction. There is the Prince of Thieves, Robin Hood. He's a thief that has a bit of a good spin on him. After all, he did rob the rich to take care of the poor! Have you ever heard the names Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker? If you have not, then perhaps you would know them by their American experience as the famous duo Bonnie and Clyde. They were famous thieves from the 1930's. Starting in January 1930 they went on a twenty-one month spree of stealing from gas stations, restaurants, and small-town banks. In all of their hits in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Missouri they never took over $1,500 at any one time. Yet for twenty-one months they grew in criminal behavior. Their lives ended in a most horrible shoot-out. There are many stories of thieves in the Bible as well. From Jacob tricking his brother out of his birthright to Zacchaeus cheating people through taxation, we can see the consequences of breaking God’s commandment not to steal.
When studying the Ten Commandments to discover more about God by his laws, we are faced with Exodus 20:15. Here the Lord spoke through Moses saying quite simply, "You shall not steal." There are many words associated with stealing: theft, thieve, snatch, embezzle, grand larceny, smuggle, seize, gain, etc. All of them essentially mean the same thing. To take something that is not yours is to steal it from another and from God. When God said, "Do not steal," he meant it. And he meant it for some very good reasons. The primary reason is because we do not have to steal. God's Word proclaims in Psalm 50:10-11 "For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills, I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine." If God owns everything, then wouldn't he have enough to give to us?!
God gives us everything we need, whether we believe in him as our God and Savior or not. It is God who gives breath and life and food and provision of all kind. Satan does not give anything. He only steals. James 1:16-17 states it plainly: "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
The root desire to steal comes from at least three sources. The first is a distrust in God as Provider. If we understand that God loves us and if we believe that he watches over us, then pancakes in a week full of tomato soup should be received with as much thankfulness as a four-course meal in a fancy restaurant. God sustains the righteous in times of need, not only because we can know it by personal experience, but because his word proclaims it. Proverbs 10:3 says, The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. It may not always be what our mouths are watering for, but God will sustain us as we trust in him. And sometimes he will give us so much we won't know what to do with it—except share it with those in need. We can trust God as our Provider!
Secondly, the desire to steal can come out of an overwhelming sense of greed and selfishness. In the Great Recession of 2008 and forward many of us reeled when we heard story after story of the Wall Street tycoons laying out millions of dollars for works of art, private jets, multiple homes, countless items of extraordinarily expensive household objects, while middle-class families were suddenly homeless, older workers lost their jobs, many people lost entire investments and life savings. Many of us were astonished that persons could become so jaded to think that it really did not matter what happened to other people while they collected their millions.
Greed is an all-consuming passion that will not rest. And greed does not abide in the Great Recession thieves alone. It can abide in each one of our own hearts, from the poorest of the poor to those who get by with a moderate income. Greed is a stark dissatisfaction with what God has provided for us. It is a thumbing of our nose at our great and good Heavenly Father saying, "It's just not enough. You don't really know what I want and need. So, I must get it for myself."
A third reason for stealing is laziness. The Apostle Paul wrote to those who were struggling with this. We read in Ephesians 4:28: Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Sometimes, frankly, it is just easier to eat your co-worker’s lunch than to remember to get cash from your bank and drive to the store! Laziness and sloth have sticky fingers. It is far easier to appease our immediate need for gratification than it is to live an upright life and do our work. There's more to not being a thief than just refraining from stealing. When we do the work that the Lord sets our hands and hearts to do, we are able to share with those in need and we gain a sense of purposefulness while making a difference in the world. Ah, what a good way to live, and a fine way to enable us to sleep well at night.
These three things—distrust, greed and laziness—can drive people to take what does not belong to them. If God is our Provider and if God supplies all of our needs according to his riches, then what have we to fear? God will take care of us if we trust in him.
There are many strong verses in the Bible regarding stealing. The Old Testament is full of laws—specific and clear—about those who steal and the kind of reparation that needs to be made after something has been stolen. These all can be summarized in this way: Don't steal. The outcome is not good, even though the gratification is immediate.
There is a wonderful prayer in Proverbs 30:7-9. "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Amen.
As we look in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we have written across human history the reality that God is trustworthy. He will provide our daily needs, be those provisions just sufficient or many and bountiful. Knowing that God is our God of trust will keep us from the temptation of stealing.
Amen.
M.R. Hyde
Copyright 2020
