Exodus 20:15 - The Eighth Point on our Spiritual Measuring Stick

Exodus 20:15  “You shall not steal.”

Throughout our lives, periodically we need to stop and re-evaluate where we are physically, mentally, and spiritually. We go to the doctor's for a physical checkup every year or so, we go to the dentist to have our teeth examined, we take exams to see if we have learned what we needed to to pass the course, we learn something and then have to use it at work or home which is a practical evaluation on if we learned it properly or not. When it comes to our spiritual life however, we often neglect to evaluate where we are and where we have been. To evaluate ourselves, we need to go to the Bible and then compare ourselves to what it says. There is no better physical measurement of our spiritual well-being than if we are fully in tune with the Bible.  This week, we come to the 8th Commandment as we continue looking at the Ten Commandments and how they apply to us.

Theft is wrong. Of course we know it to be so, we don't want someone else to take something we have worked long and hard to obtain, likewise others have the same viewpoint, so as a society we know that stealing things is wrong. Do we ever take the time to look at what it means to “not steal”?  What exactly is stealing anyways? Stealing is taking something that doesn't belong to you, typically an object. However, stealing can also be of ideas, of words, and even of something as ephemeral as time.

We can steal all sorts of things from each other and never even realize we are stealing!  When we write a paper, its important that we don't quote someone without citing them because that is plagiarism, when we speak, do we use words and phrases others have used without quoting them? Sure, we do it all the time! We just don't realize that we are stealing their words.  Have you ever been late to a meeting? Have you ever forgotten an appointment that you were supposed to be at or neglected to show up? You just stole time from the other person or people. They could have used that time for other things. Have you ever told someone you had something for them and forgot to give it to them? You stole something from them and it was never in their possession to begin with! We steal from each other all the time and never realize that we have committed theft.

This week, lets look at ourselves and into our habits and see where we are stealing from others and from God. We steal all sorts of things. Lets figure out what it is we are stealing and make an effort to correct this behaviour. Our spiritual wellbeing is more important than our ease of physical life! Lets change what we do, how we think, and how we deal with each other. Lets make a greater attempt to deal with each other in love and not take so much for granted.

Building, daily building, while the moments fly,
We are ever building life work for on high!
Character we’re building, thoughts and actions free
Make for us a building for eternity.

May the Lord approve us! ’Tis our earnest prayer.
Oh, to have our building tall, and strong and fair!
Oh, to live for Jesus! Truly every hour,
Building, praying, trusting in His mighty power!
                                                      ^{Flora Kirkland, 1901.}