The Eighth Commandment is all about our contentment,
or the lack of it, in relation to what God has allowed in
life. Included are our finances, our bodies, possessions and family members or the lack
of them. If we trust in the Lord, we are apt to be at peace with His
decisions about what we have. If we don’t trust Him, we will
likely bend the rules to get our “due.”
In a “Signs of the Times”
article, dated October, 1988 (pages 22-23), it is reported that Zig
Ziglar told of “a thief, a man named Emmanuel
Nenger.” They reported the year as 1887:
“The scene was a small
neighborhood grocery store. Mr. Nenger was buying some turnip greens. He
gave the clerk a $20 bill. As the clerk began to put the money in the
cash drawer to give Mr. Nenger his change, she noticed some of the ink
from the $20 bill was coming off on her fingers which were damp from the
turnip greens. She looked at Mr. Nenger, a man she had known for years.
She looked at the smudged bill. This man was a trusted friend she had
known all her life; he could not be a counterfeiter. She gave Mr. Nenger
his change and he left the store. But $20 was a lot of money in 1887,
and eventually the clerk called the police. They verified the bill as
counterfeit and got a search warrant to look through Mr. Nenger's home.
In the attic they found where he was reproducing money, one bill at a
time. He was a master artist and painted $20 bills with brushes and
paint! In the attic they also found three portraits Nenger had painted.
They seized them and eventually sold them at auction for $16,000 (in
1887 currency) or a little more than $5,000 per painting. The irony is
that it took Nenger almost as long to paint a $20 bill as it did for him
to paint a $5,000 portrait! It's true that Emanuel Nenger was a thief,
but the person from whom he stole the most was himself.”
Every one of us has stolen something from ourselves.
Alcohol or other drugs will steal our brain cells. Adultery, a violation
of the Seventh Commandment, is a theft that can bring disease to
our own bodies, and to loved ones as well. Giving in to
temptation as Mr. Nenger did will steal our very lives. Our
freedom will be gone.
And, oh yes, that which is stolen may seem to be “sweet”
for a time. As the author of Proverbs observed, “Stolen
water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But the
author does not stop there. He continues, “But he
does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths
of hell” (Proverbs 9:17-18). Theft of one kind or another might
seem “sweet” for a time, but it can take us
to hell on earth, and worse, to a hell that never ends.
Psalm 50 contains words that are known by many: “Every
beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all
the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is Mine. If I
were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are
mine” (Psalm 50:10-12).
History has been full of farmers and ranchers who
think, “This land is mine; these crops, the
cattle; it’s all mine!” But it’s not. The world and everything in
it belongs to the Lord God, Maker of heaven and of earth. The money in
your pocket, your bank account; the house or other abode you live in;
whatever asset you might think you have – it belongs to the Lord.
And the importance of it is this – when you steal
from somebody, whether it’s cheating on taxes, taking something “extra”
from your employer or committing armed robbery, it’s more than just
taking from other people. It’s God’s money - you’re stealing from
Him! And He is not pleased when you steal from Almighty God! He
entrusted those assets to others for His purposes in their lives. When
you take from them unlawfully, you have robbed God.
Your very life is not your own. The physical bodies
of your parents were the vehicle for entry into this world, but it is God who
genetically formed you in them, and He is your Creator. David, the
shepherd boy who became a king, observed about God in relation to his
own life, “You formed my inward parts; You knitted
me together in my mother’s womb; I praise You, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14). Whatever you may secretly
like or dislike about yourself, note that God could have made you into a mouse, a
fruit fly or a snail. You have been carefully chosen to be part of the
dominant race of this planet, and you also have the opportunity to become, as
Scripture puts it, “a new creation” in
Christ. Paul, the man who was wonderfully changed by Jesus Christ, 2000
years ago, said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come”
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Lord anticipates that you will live for Him, not
only by trusting in the Lord, but also by promoting His work in this
world. In the Book of Malachi, God said, through the prophet: “You
are robbing Me.” And then the question is asked through the
prophet, “How have we robbed You?” And He
answers, “In your tithes and contributions… Bring
the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.”
And He continues, “Put Me to the test, says the
Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour
down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the
devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil”
(Malachi 3:8-11).
There are glimpses in both the Old and New Testaments, revealing that EVERYONE has violated our
Scripture for today, which is the “Eighth
Commandment.” It is very clear: “You shall
not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Even if we have merely THOUGHT about
taking something that's not ours, we are a thief in the sight of God
and we need redemption. We can look into ourselves or
consider other people. Either way it is observed that everyone
needs to be made right in the sight of a holy God.
But how do we do it? Even though authors of fiction love to write about going backward and forward in time, it
doesn’t happen. Time only goes in one direction and we are headed for
the end of life, the end of time. The beginning was long ago. We may
have only this moment to decide the outcome of our lives – forever.
Time belongs to God. He carefully picked a moment for
you and I to come into this world, He has a set time for us to be here,
and He reasonably that this time is for HIS purposes. Does He
want us to rest? Yes, He does, but He also has a blueprint, an
intention, an outcome for us that is of HIS choosing. When I was a
child, I was what you might call a “sickly” person. I spent years in
wheelchairs and hospital beds. We didn’t have television and so I read
books. I still am very much a reader and it
looks like I'll be one all of my life. I read serious literature,
including not only the Bible and books about the Bible, but I also like
drama – fiction – novels, whatever you call it. Somehow, the
escape into a good book is restful and I have no doubt that God knows
everything I do. He wants me to prepare Bible studies and sermons,
and as to my reading just for fun, it is a lesser consideration.
Otherwise, I would be stealing from the Lord. Let's not be like Mr. Nenger, stealing from himself,
from others and from our King. You and I belong
to God.
Father, we have stolen from You and we
confess our sins right now. Please forgive us and heal us, and help us to
walk in Your ways. Thank You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
