Although the eighth commandment is straightforward and simple, it is even more so in Hebrew, where it reads simply, �Steal not.� As a society, we know that stealing is wrong, so we teach our kids from the earliest age not to take what isn�t theirs. And yet, according to the IRS, if no one cheated on his taxes, our national debt would be retired in one year. But make no mistake, stealing is not limited to money or material goods. We can rob our employers through two-hour lunches or leaving early from work.
Following are four prescriptions for the epidemic of thievery that pervades our culture . . .
�Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good� (Ephesians 4:28). We are to work with our hands. When man fell in the garden of Eden, God told Adam that he was to work by the sweat of his brow. This wasn�t punishment but protection, for in his sinful state, man needed to work or else he would be vulnerable to stealing, taking shortcuts, or cheating. One of the greatest ways to be free from thievery is to work hard. Why? If you�re not working hard, you�re a candidate for depression. You�ll be down on yourself, disillusioned with yourself, and sad about your situation. I believe depression can be linked to people who no longer work hard.
Jesus said if someone compels you to go a mile, go two (Matthew 5:41). Go twice as far, twice as hard as your boss expects. Satan will tell you that you deserve a break, but Jesus tells us to go twice as far because, His burden being easy, His load light, He knows it�s for our benefit.
�. . . that he may have to give to him that needeth� (Ephesians 4:28). We are to reach out our hands. If we�re going the second mile, working harder than others, we�ll inevitably experience a certain degree of success, not to accumulate more for ourselves, but to reach out our hands and give to others. In so doing, a dynamic takes place that leads to joy and liberty, happiness and freedom (Luke 19:8).
�Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings� (Malachi 3:8). We are to open up our hands. God indicted His people of robbery when they failed to tithe. The whole earth is the Lord�s (Psalm 24:1), and we acknowledge that fact by tithing. He who robs God also robs everyone around him in sneaky, subtle ways.
�He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?� (Romans 8:32). We are to look at His hands. The holes in Jesus� hands tell me that God loves me, that He cares about Me, that He�ll do what�s best for me, which obliterates the need for thievery. I look at His hands, and in them I rest.
By working with your hands, reaching out your hands, opening your hands, and looking at His hands, you�ll not only keep the eighth commandment, but you�ll find deep fulfillment.
