#8: “You will not steal.”  Jesus promises us the riches of His inheritance, so why should we steal?  At the heart of stealing, there is the desire for more which means there has to be an emptiness deep within to merit that need to take from someone else.  If that begins to define us – an emptiness borne of lack, then receiving from Jesus becomes impossible.  In America, that seems to be the definition of who we are – we are needy, so we take; it doesn’t have to be stealing possessions, but stealing people’s innocence, purity, and childlike faith.  It’s what the world, the sin nature does.  We have taken things that are not ours in our selfish graspings for pleasure.  Jesus has a rich inheritance in us.  He longs to lavish his grace on us – freely!!!  That’s the key concept – freely.  It’s not something that we have to take for ourselves but that is a priceless gift given to us. 

  They’re not just cheap gifts either.  In Matthew 7, God speaks of his nature in comparison to an earthly father.  If an earthly father loves to give good gifts to his children, how much more so will God who is perfect and tender in His givings!  It seems like the church has given us an erroneous view of how God is – He just wants to take from us – we give Him our praise, we give Him service with our giftings, we give Him our obedience by the laws mandated for us to follow in the Bible.  Little is spoken about the tender, merciful love lavished on us – the very foundation that we stand on so we can even able to give back to Him with.  We cannot love unless we first know we are loved.  We cannot give unless we are first given to.  But it has to be experiential. 

Yes, Jesus gave us the free gift of salvation, but that doesn’t mean anything to us unless we have personal experience of it.  We cannot share it with others unless we first experience it.  God gives so that we can give.  There doesn’t need to be a focus on lack because the God of the Universe holds all the riches of the world in the palm of His hand.  Stealing is out of the question when our hearts rest in the knowledge that we are safe in the communion of the Godhead.  We steal?  We have Jesus!