Don’t Be a Thief!
(Eph. 4:28)
Mike Johnson
Ephesians 4:17-32 is one of many passages in the New Testament that speaks of a change that is supposed to occur when a person becomes a Christian. The Bible tells Christians to put off the old man, i.e., our former sinful conduct, and put on the new man in faithful service to Christ. This article will focus on stealing, one of the sins Paul wrote to the Ephesians about. Ephesians 4:28 says, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”
The fact that Paul even wrote to Christians about stealing might surprise some. However, the Gospel can lead to the conversion of people who have committed all kinds of sins. At Corinth, for example, Christians had been guilty of such sins as murder, extortion, and fornication (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Perhaps some of the Ephesians had been thieves, and maybe some of it was still occurring. It may have been that certain ones needed to avoid particular activities, which might have been classified as stealing but would not be looked upon as very serious.
The Bible frequently condemns stealing. The Ten Commandments say, “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15). Leviticus 19:11 spells out, “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another,” and verse 13 continues, “You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 tells us theft was among the former practices of the Corinthians. Those guilty of stealing and the other sins listed would not be able to “inherit the kingdom of God.”
Stealing can take a variety of forms. The most obvious would be robbing a bank, breaking into a house, shoplifting, embezzling from an employer, identity theft, or robbing someone on the street. But there are more passive ways to steal. Consider some examples of how we can do this.
- In a routine business exchange, we can steal by allowing someone to give us too much money in a transaction. If you pay, for instance, for something with a ten-dollar bill, and the clerk gives you change as if you had paid with a twenty, would you say anything about it?
- Not being truthful about a product we are selling is a form of stealing. Some occupations require this.
- We can steal from our employer by not working as required.
- We steal from the government by cheating on our income taxes.
- Using pirated software is a form of stealing.
- We steal from the Lord when we do not give as we have been prospered (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Mal. 3:8-10).
In business transactions, some people say things to justify dishonestly, such as, “Well, that is just good business.” Christians must put integrity over the dollar.
Instead of stealing, what should a person do? The text says, “but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good”(28b). Hardworking people are less likely to be dishonest because they know the value of work and wages.
The word translated “labor” in this passage means strenuous work producing fatigue (The Complete Word Study Dictionary). Paul uses it to refer to manual labor (1 Cor. 4:12, Acts 20:34-35), and he uses the term to speak of spiritual endeavor as we work for the Lord (Rom. 6:12, Gal. 4:11, Phil. 2:16).
A person who steals typically takes what belongs to people who have worked hard for what they have. The selfish and lazy thief says, “I’m not going to work as the person I am stealing from did; I’ll just take it for free!” In one sense, the thief is stealing “time” — the time it took for the victim to earn money to buy what the thief took from him.
The text also tells us that the work must be honest when it says, “that which is good.” The ESV says, “doing honest work with his own hands. For example, you might have a hardworking person who does something dishonest to obtain money. (A person can be a hardworking thief.) So, not just any kind of work is acceptable; the work must be honest.
Paul also cites a reason for working at the end of verse 28. Is it to obtain a lot of money and be wealthy? The verse continues, “that he may have something to give him who has need” (28c). We have an essential responsibility to provide for ourselves and our families (1 Tim. 5:8). But another reason is to have the money to help the needy. The Bible frequently speaks of helping the needy (Gal. 2:10; 6:10; Mt. 5:7; 25:36). (By the way, it also talks about not helping those who will not work in 2: Thessalonians 3:6,10-12.) But there is legitimate need everywhere, and we must realize that one of the reasons for working is to help those in need.
Undoubtedly, most reading this would not steal from others, for example, by robbing a bank or holding up a gas station, but if faced with such temptations, we must resist. However, many may have stolen in more “respectable” ways like those mentioned earlier. It is essential to work for your money. By doing so, you can provide for yourself and your family. Having been blessed by God, you can even help those in need who cannot work. We must put off the “old man” and put on the new, as the Scriptures admonish.
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“A Servant’s Heart”Greg Gwin |
Our Lord taught that if we would be truly great in His kingdom, we MUST develop a servant’s heart. “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mt. 23:11). If we understand this truth, then we will be working more and more to acquire the attitudes and characteristics of a servant. What are some of these?
If I possess a servant’s heart, then I will be ready and willing to do any job that needs to be done even when it is not the job that I really wanted to do. Some tasks are difficult and receive little recognition, but I’ll do these anyway. After all, I shouldn’t be doing my works to be “seen of men” (Matt. 6:1ff).
With a servant’s heart, I will worry less (ultimately none at all) about how others serve me, and I will be more interested in finding ways to serve others. “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matt. 20:26, 27).
As a faithful servant, I will not be rebellious against God, the things taught in His word, or to those who are in authority over me (elders, parents, employers, etc.). To do so would be completely contradictory to the whole notion of servanthood (I Peter 5:5-7).
As I grow in these attributes of a servant, I will begin to see my needs and myself as less important in the “bigger scheme” of things. “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:3).
And finally, as a servant who is seeking to please God, I will grow in the realization that my work is never done – that I have never done as much as I could have or should have done. “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, ‘we are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do’” (Luke 17:10).
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It’s What We Make Of It
Bill Hall
An old man was sitting on the porch of the community store when some settlers came by in their horse-drawn wagon. “What kind of people will we find in this area if we choose to make our home here?” asked the settlers. “What kind of people did you find where you came from?” the wise old man queried. “Terrible,” was the reply, “hard to get along with.” “That’s funny,” said the old man, “we have the same kind of people here. If I were you, I would probably move on.”
After awhile, another load of settlers stopped. The questioning began much as before, but this time the settlers could hardly say enough about the wonderful people they had left behind. To which the old man replied, “That’s funny—we have the same kind of people here!”
People are pretty well what we make of them; and so is a job, a community, or life in general. We often hear of someone who “has had a rather unhappy life,” but then we think of others who have been faced with equally severe losses and trials who have not had unhappy lives at all. They have learned that “life is what we make of it.”
The apostle Paul comes immediately to mind. No one could have been more deserving of love and appreciation: “I labored more abundantly than they all,” he wrote (1 Corinthians 15:10). Yet, no mere list of sufferings adequately describes the heartaches, disappointments, and setbacks experienced by this one man. Friend and foe alike contributed to his hurt. “What an unhappy life!” someone might think. Unhappy? No one wrote of “joy” and “rejoicing” more than did Paul. He found joy in his sufferings in behalf of others (Colossians 1:24; Philippians 2:17). He found joy in his hope of glory (Romans 5:2). Paul was a happy Christian. Paul had learned that life is what one makes of it. He had learned where real happiness lies—that real happiness comes from qualities that are within, not from circumstances that are without; that real happiness comes through Christ, not through ideal surroundings. So, from his Roman imprisonment, he could write: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.… I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11–13). Paul could take what, for others, would have been an unhappy life, and “through Christ” make a happy life out of it.
What Paul teaches us concerning life, Barnabas teaches us concerning people: people are often what we make of them. Barnabas could see hope and promise where others could see only failure and hopelessness. He looked for the best in others; he believed in others; he could extend the helping hand; he was truly “the son of exhortation.” If the view of some toward their fellow-man was basically, “You aren’t—You can’t be—You won’t be,” Barnabas’ view was, “You may not be now, but I know you can be and you will be.” And people not only looked better when they were with Barnabas, they became better. People rarely rise above what is expected of them. People are to a great degree what we make of them.
This writer had occasion several years ago to visit a friend dying with cancer. He found the patient alone. Totally absent from his room were the morbidness and gloom generally expected under such circumstances. The friend spoke of how wonderful life had been; he expressed gratitude for his good wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, his brothers and sisters in Christ; he spoke of his faith and hope; then he spoke of his funeral, of his lost friends who would be there, of his excitement in knowing the gospel would be preached to them, and of his confidence that their hearts would be touched. The faith that had sustained this friend in life was shining most brightly in death. In death! Yes, even death is what we make of it.
Faith is the key—the ability to lift up our eyes from the cares and worries of this life “to the hills, from whence cometh our help;” to see life in its relationship to eternity; to see life and people and job and community and death through the eyes of one who has been transformed into the image of Christ rather than through the eyes of one who has no hope. Such faith is worth more than all the gold in the world.
Strange as it may seem, the question, “What kind of people and life and job and community do you find where you come from?” requires more self-evaluation than evaluation of others. Improving others starts with improving me!
From Christianity Magazine
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Unread Letters
Matt Hennecke
A childhood accident resulted in the poet Elizabeth Barrett becoming an invalid and recluse. Despite her isolation her early poetry drew the attention of Robert Browning who began courting her. He eventually asked for her hand in marriage in 1846.
But there’s more to the story.
In her youth, Elizabeth had been watched closely by her tyrannical father. He was strict beyond reason and attempted to prevent suitors from courting her. In fact, he did not want any of his children to marry. As a result Elizabeth and Robert eloped, their wedding held in secret because of her father’s disapproval.
After the wedding Elizabeth and her new husband sailed for Italy, where they lived for the rest of their lives — exiled from her parents. Even though her parents had disowned her, Elizabeth never gave up on the relationship. Almost weekly she wrote them letters. Some were fairly lengthy, others short and poetical in form.
Not once did they reply.
After ten years, Elizabeth received a large box in the mail. Inside she found all of her letters. Not a single one had been opened. Elizabeth’s years of writing, her letters pleading for reconciliation — were for naught.
Today those letters are among the most beautiful in classical English literature. Had her parents only read a few of them, their relationship with Elizabeth might have been restored.
What makes the story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning so compelling is that it is so similar to another story. The story that is repeated over and over again — generation after generation.
You see, I am aware of other letters which have been written but not read. Beautiful letters; letters of reconciliation; letters of hope. We know them better as epistles. These letters, written by men, but authored by God through the Holy Spirit have been written for our reconciliation, for our salvation. Sadly, they often go unnoticed, unread, unheeded. Indeed, the entire Bible, God’s Word, is a book pleading for reconciliation.
What is amazing is that God is pleading with us for reconciliation, but He has done nothing wrong. We are the ones who have gone astray (2 Peter 2:15), and yet God stoops to beg for our reconciliation.
In Colossians 1:18-23, Paul speaking of Christ says, “It was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Why? Why would God give His only begotten Son for all of us who have gone astray? Paul tells us in verse 22: “in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” Paul’s letter speaks of reconciliation and of hope. Are you listening? What a beautiful letter. It would be a shame if it were never read, or if read, ignored.
— via mightyisthelord.com
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It’s Always Needed
Shane Williams
I heard a story of a man in the mid 1950’s entering school to study engineering. A professor told the entering freshmen class to buy the best slide rule they could afford. The reason: “You will be dependent on it all your ‘professional life.'” Well, of course, it wasn’t too long before the slide rule was replaced by the calculator. We’ve seen those same sorts of things in recent years: 8 tracks, cassette tapes (almost), & even VHS tapes! Things that today we consider essential may quickly become obsolete. Tomorrow they may be discarded as antiques that cannot provide the help we need.
At least one thing from the past, however, will always be needed and never become obsolete. It is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. No matter how much technological change and progress takes place, the Book will remain the one sure means for getting the right answers to the complicated questions: our origin, our purpose, our needs, and our final destination.
Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Psalm 18:30, “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
Psalm 119:160, “The entirety of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever.”
1 Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.”
Make sure you keep your Bible around and use it! You’ll always need it.
Walking in the Light
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Editor: Mike Johnson
www.seekingthingsabove.org