Friday, March 13, 2009

Exhortation-Eighth Commandment

Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

There are many ways to steal things. My hope is that you Christians would not outright steal from anybody. You won’t steal money, or anything from a store, or some possession from your employer because you think you are underappreciated or under paid. You children will not take things that don’t belong to you, candy or toys. That is stealing. You should be extremely honest about other people’s property.

But we Christians sometimes steal in other ways that can lead to the destruction of our character and make a thief out of us in the long run. I am thinking of two specific areas where we steal time and money.

The first is the Lord’s Day. God requires that we spend one day in seven at His house in worship and attending to our own rest from our work and seeking after our own desires. We should set aside this day specifically for worship and for gathering with the saints and not pursuing things that keep us away from or distract us from these blessed and restful duties.

Another area where we steal is in tithing. The Lord’s portion is one tenth of our increase. If you do not give one tenth of your increase to the Lord then you are stealing from Him.

Since the Lord is the dispenser of all good gifts, it should not surprise you that if you steal from the Lord on the Lord’s Day in time or money, the tithe or your duty of rest and worship, it should not surprise you, if you are short of time and money.

Furthermore, I warn you that if you take light your duty to the Lord in these areas that you will bear the fruit of your behavior as other sins latch on to these two in your own life or in the lives of your family members.

Judas was a petty thief, pilfering from the money, box but in the end he was the monster that betrayed our Lord.

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