The Eighth Word

Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal.

This is another commandment that seems very keepable on the surface even though you break it every day. You may not steal cars or even candy bars but you steal from your employer. You steal time. You don't put in an honest days work for an honest days pay. You socialize and gossip about your boss. If you are the boss, you steal from your employee by not providing him with enough money to raise his family. You become rich while your employees waste away. You fudge the numbers and cook the books. Manufacturing companies steal by building obsolescence into their products. As a consumer, you steal by getting around charges and fees. You steal time from your family to pursue leisure activities. You steal from the beggar by not providing for him. The beggar that can truly work but chooses to beg steals from those he begs from. You steal from God by not worshipping Him. You steal from God by not providing financially and in your prayers for the furtherance of the Gospel.

You are a robber just like Barabbas. The Lamb on the Altar is your substitute just like He is for Barabbas. You should be crucified, but the Lamb was crucified. The Lamb was crucified between two robbers. In the midst of their own sufferings for their own sins, they mocked the sinless one. You mock the sinless one when you groan and complain for the suffering that you experience. You mock the sinless one when you say that it's not fair and that the sinless one has a responsibility to stop all your suffering immediately. What kind of God would allow such things to happen? He must be defective. But the Lamb poured out his blood for mocking thieves like you.