“YOU SHALL NOT STEAL. (Exodus 20:15 NKJ)

Definition of stealing: To take someone’s property without permission or legal rights and without intending to return it.

WHY DO PEOPLE STEAL? TRUST. Trust in God.
• Stealing comes from a lack of trust that God is able to provide!

If you are a thief, QUIT STEALING. Instead, use your hands for good HARD WORK, and then GIVE GENEROUSLY to others in need. (Ephesians 4:28 NLT)

#1 QUIT STEALING

he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. (Exodus 16:18 NKJ)
• By taking more than they needed, they were demonstrating not only their greed but their lack of trust in God as the provider.

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? (Exodus 16:28 NKJ)
• They were free from the bondage of slavery, but they still had the slavery mentality.

3000 years later, God is still trying to set us free from that same bondage:
• $13 billion in goods are stolen from retailers each year.
• 25% of shoplifters are underage.
• The average shoplifting is around $800.
• Walmart loses $3 billion a year to theft.
• Companies lose $50 billion a year over employee theft.
• 55% of adult shoplifters started shoplifting in their teens.
• 1 out 11 people will shoplift at some point in their lives.

Psychologists even have a name for compulsive stealing: Kleptomania – a recurrent urge to steal without regard for need or profit.
Stealing is a bold statement to God that you don’t trust Him.

#2 WORK HARD

If you are a thief, QUIT STEALING. Instead, use your hands for good HARD WORK (Ephesians 4:28 NLT)

• The importance of Good Hard Work.
• Is work a result of the fall? No

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden TO WORK it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15 NIV)

• This was before the fall. Before sin entered the world.

Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “THOSE UNWILLING TO WORK WILL NOT GET TO EAT.” Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 NLT)

#3 GIVE GENEROUSLY

If you are a thief, QUIT STEALING. Instead, use your hands for good HARD WORK, and then GIVE GENEROUSLY to others in need. (Ephesians 4:28 NLT)

Do you HAVE TO GIVE, or Do you GET TO GIVE?

WORK WILLINGLY at whatever you do, as though you were WORKING FOR THE LORD rather than for people. (Colossians 3:23 NLT)

• Work willingly: Of your own free will.
• Then the Lord is your source! Your trust for provision is Him and Him only.
• When God is your source: YOU GET TO GIVE.

The attitude of a thief is: “What’s yours is mine, and I’ll take it!”

The attitude of a good steward is: “What’s mine is God’s and I’ll share it.”

STEALTHY: The root word of that word is STEAL. Only a thief is stealthy when he steals something.

But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much. (Luke 19:6-7 NLT)

• Zachaeus came clean in front of Jesus.

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:9-10 NLT)

• He received God’s forgiveness immediately.

God’s idea behind the 8th commandment is that we would trust Him as the only sole provider – As Jehovah Jireh.

CONCLUSION

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?