Meditation

Meditation for 08/22/2019

“Thou shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)

Persons in most societies can own their own property. We must understand that God, however, is the ultimate Owner. To take property from someone is a violation of their personhood.

I have never had an abundance of property, personal or otherwise, yet if someone was in need, I would give them whatever I could to meet their need. For someone to steal, which is an overt act to take what is not theirs, is not appropriate nor something that is considered good manner. I have worked for everything I have and expect others to do the same. For someone to steal, because they want something but are not willing to earn the money to buy what it is their desire is an affront to all honest and decent people.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, help us to be open to taking care of those in need around us, as this is our Christian duty. Help us to help others to help themselves at all times. Help us to seek Your will with all of our interactions with other people, to honor and respect them and to allow them to respond in kind. Let us always be attuned to the Holy Spirit within us, that we might discern what it is we should do for others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“God gives special grace for each trial we face.”

KNOWING GOD:

“Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” (Leviticus19:11)

A word spoken cannot be called back; whether a word of truth or falsehood. We have all said something at one time or another and we immediately wish we had not said what it was we said. It’s like a pitcher in baseball, he throws the pitch and immediately tries to take it back, but it’s already on the way to plate, right?! Dishonest reports, slander, exaggerating the truth—all distort the character of the teller and the one reported upon. To establish justice, society must be able to believe he words of its members. It is the same for someone who steals from another. They may say they are sorry, but are they sorry they stole, or just that they got caught? Stealing is an offense that becomes a violation towards the other person. To steal is to show disdain towards the one that was stolen from. You cannot respect someone and steal from them at the same time. Clear enough??

I AM:

Sin, Responsibility: (Leviticus6:1-5)

A person must bear full responsibility for personal acts of unfaithfulness. The sinful act against another person is a sin against God. Such a sin demands renewing the relationship with the other person as well as renewing the relationship with God. Christians can go directly to God through Christ and His sacrificial death, so we do not employ the sacrificial systems. We do need to remember that dealing with our sins involves dealing with the person(s) against whom we sinned.

Second Thought of the Day:

“You shall not steal” (Deuteronomy 5:19)

There was a movie, The Saint, which starred Val Kilmer, one of my favorite actors. The story line was that he had a goal of attaining a certain amount of money ($50 Million Dollars), and when he achieved this he would retire and live out his days on the money. Unfortunately, he gained the money by stealing valuable things and then selling them to the highest bidder! There was certainly an underlying point that he was stealing from “bad people,” which was sort of justification for his stealing.

The 10 commandments are not 10 suggestions or 10 semi rules that you can look at and make modifications for. God’s 10 Commandments are rules to live by and there is no “wiggle room” implied or allowed! They are intended to be followed, with respect and obedience to the very letter. In the movie above, Val was using deception in spades, to trick people into doing what he wanted them to do, so that his desired outcome was to end up with the valuable, that he would then sell to the highest bidder. In short, he was stealing. As a retired police chaplain, I have encountered many a person who would come up with justification for what they stole, but in the eyes of he law, they stole. Guess what, God does the same thing. We are accountable for all that we do, beloved, no matter what!