Respecting Personal Property (Ex. 20:15)

6/17/2008 9:29 AM

My Worship Time           Focus:  Respecting personal property

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Exodus 20:15

            Message of the verse:  “15 ‘You shall not steal.’”

            This commandment not to steal is a commandment that is essential for living in a society that will function correctly.  Paul repeats this commandment in Ephesians 4:28:  “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.”  Paul is saying it is wrong to steal, and the one who steals should not do it anymore, but he goes on to say that he should get a job and work in order to have something for himself and also to share with others from the things that he has earned by working.

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that the land that was given to Israel actually belongs to the Lord and they were just stewards of the land.  Lev. 25:23, “The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.”  Now if the land actually belonged to the Lord and Israel was just stewards of the land whenever someone was stealing something they were actually stealing from the Lord.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The same thing applies to me as a believer living today, and that is that I am just a steward of the Lords and therefore I should not steal or I am stealing for the Lord.  Stealing is not just taking something physical that does not belong to another person, but it could mean stealing time from the person that I would be working for.  It may even be stealing a lustful thought to a woman who belongs to another man.

My Steps of Faith for Today: 

1. Trust the Lord in all of the many things that are happening to me that seem to be bad, things like the problem that landed me in the Emergency Room yesterday, the effects of having Andrew change his mind about bailing all of the investors out, and the ever changing job situation that is going on in Hawaii.

Memory verses for the week:                      Colossians 4:12-13

12.    Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of the Lord, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

13.    For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for all of those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

6/17/2008 9:59 AM