Thou shalt not steal.

Derek Rust of Hosanna Lutheran Church recently preached a sermon on stealing. To illustrate his point, he set up special "amnesty bins" in the aisles of the church and encouraged sticky-fingered parishioners to return anything they had swiped. Pastor Rust was amazed at the response. Items left in the bins by penitent miscreants included men's shirts, tools, CDs, candy bars, packages of DoubleBubble -- and even a rubber eagle. No one was arrested, but local police were delighted to recover such a cache of stolen booty.

Pastor Rust told Charisma News Service that the impact of his message goes even beyond the bins. "The Ten Commandments should be lived," he said. "That's what sermons should be about, applying truth to our lives."

The temptation to filtch something "when no one will see" is something that some of us yield to at least once in our lives. But Christians are also well aware that an omnipotent God sees and knows everything. Even a carpenter who seizes a handful of nails from a worksite without permission doesn't escape God's notice. God takes sin -- any sin -- very seriously. Though we may feel we have gotten away with it since we are not caught, does not mean we won't be punished.

That is Truth!

God's Law will stand forever. What is stealing today will be stealing tomorrow. What is not punished today, will be punished on the Day to come. On that Day, the time for repentance will be long past.

Soli Deo Gloria

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Ed Price spent 35 years in print and broadcast journalism. He is author of 15 books. After becoming an ordained minister he settled with his wife on a farm in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, to study God's word and to write. Ed and Patty are the parents of three girls, have one grandchild, and cater to the every whim of two spoiled cats.
© 2009 Ed Price - All rights reserved. Visit his website, The Loving Heart.

This column is used with permission.