The Ten Commandments:
Commandment IIX

Thou shalt not steal.

Theft is a terrible crime. It feeds on itself and places a callous on your soul, making further theft easier and often more destructive than your last crime. It begins a dangerous cycle that will cause those who care about you to lose trust in you and can hinder any relationship. It is also unnerving to the victim of the crime. I remember a couple years back, I had the stereo stolen from my car. The loss of the stereo wasn't the worst of it, as it wasn't any great device, but the fact that someone got into my car and violated the sanctity of my property was very upsetting.

Another example that hits closer to the heart is theft by someone you care about. My wife and I were the victims of such an event just this last week when a cousin who had been staying with us up until a couple months ago signed a legal document that we stole a paycheck from her. In doing so, she has endangered my wife's job at a bank and created a negative atmosphere at my job, as we work at the same place. But all she cares about is $600 that was never stolen from her in the first place.

When she moved in, her situation was dire. She had lost her mother about three years before and her father lived so far away that she didn't want to move in with him. Her sisters both had let her stay with them before and some bad situations had developed. She was unable to have a checking account, due to her financial habits, so we allowed her to park her money in our account, while we helped her pay off the debts, keep her and her daughter in a safe environment, feed them, and generally care for their well-being.

Stealing is a sin for a good reason. It is bad for everyone involved and goes hand in hand with lying. This girl that I have described to you has lost her mother to an illness. She has lost the rest of her family over time due to her own theft and lies. I don't hate her, but I cannot trust her any longer. Please pray for her.

Yours in Christ,

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New were getting into Lamentations. What does it mean to lament? It is a showing of grief and suffering. It's difficult to keep a stiff upper lip when God is the one punishing you, and these Israelites hadn't had an easy time of it. In it's day, Israel was a powerhouse that no nation could stand against. A nation of immeasurable wealth. Now it was a bitter memory with starving citizens scattered among kingdoms that didn't want them.

What a lonely feeling, though. Even to call out to God, the writer felt that God marked his prayer "return to sender. II I can't imagine a more hopeless feeling than that. At least they knew that the Lord's love hadn't been completely tom away. This is shown with the comment that they hadn't been completely destroyed. They knew they were powerless to stem the tide that was rushing to them, but they knew that God wouldn't kill them to the last man. They also understood that they would be punished in full before their exile was completed

I love this response, though: Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. They knew they were in violation of His decrees, and only needed to confirm that to themselves. People, in general, are not good at accepting blame.

Day 2

Here are more examples of how tough it was. They had enjoyed virtually free necessities before. Wood for burning was abundant and water for drinking was plentiful. Now they paid dearly for these. The people were complaining here of having to pay for the sins of their parents, but honestly, they were old enough to be every bit as guilty as their parents.

Day 3

A week and a half is not a whole lot of time, you know. Apparently, though, the Jews only needed that much time to change their minds from following God's wishes. They developed an accusing tone and expressed their resolve to walk in the exact opposite direction from God's wishes. In Egypt, It was foretold that Babylon would overrun the nation and Nebuchadnezzar would rule there. If l were Pharaoh, I would have expelled all of the Jews from my borders immediately. I don't think that it would have done any good, but for these people to have been warned of what terror would follow them into another country that they had worked with before, and then still go there is irresponsible.

The Jews argued with Jeremiah about this point and said that they would continue to worship false gods, as everything went well when they did this before. Umm. Sure. If you want to call the times they were invaded by different kingdoms, only to be rescued after years of slavery when they turned to the Lord a time when everything's just fine. That was enough to enrage God. He swore by His name that none of these people would ever be allowed to invoke his name again. That is a definite sign of finality. He wouldn't call on them. They couldn't call on Him. That's the ultimate restraining order set by the highest judge in the land.

Day 4

In those days, a shepherd had quite a bit of responsibility to care for the flock. Even an excellent shepherd may only bring half of the flock home after a long grazing journey, but they knew their role as protector and took it seriously. That's not the case of the shepherds of the Jewish flock of Israel. They didn't care what the flock did and let them stray until they were all snatched up by the predatory evils that were in the world.

So, what does a good owner do when the shepherds fail him? He goes out and does the work for them right after sending them to the unemployment line (you get the idea). He finds his lost sheep and gathers them again. He cares for them even more lovingly than the shepherds were expected to do. And then comes the new shepherd... David. Let us not forget that Jesus was of the house and lineage of David as we read this. We are the chosen people that the Good Shepherd will care for! That is a blessing that nobody could deny.

Day 5

In the midst of all of the suffering of the Jews, this vision must have seemed very unlikely in its symbolism. The revival of the dead bones is a sign that Israel would be revived and restored and the two kingdoms of Israel would be united under David. This revival would not go unnoticed or unchallenged, but God would fight for them so they could just worry about the cleaning up after it is all over. With this resounding victory, Israel would be virtually untouched from that moment on.

Day 6

Ezekiel is once again given the role of a watchman. Once again, he is to look for dangers to the people and warn them, lest the disaster be on his head. He did a fine job of it before, but the warned people didn't respond. He must have felt bad for this, but it couldn't be his fault.

The fairness of God in all of this is astounding. I also see more proof of God accepting all people into His fold, rather than just Israel. All people would be judged by their own hearts. The wicked could change their ways and be as good as any and those who were righteous could change at their peril, but the choice is always theirs. That's why a watchman is needed. Without someone to warn you that your actions are dangerous, most people will continue to do evil, despite what they know the outcome must be. In this sense, remember, God didn't even have to declare a watchman, for the people had His expectations in writing for generations.

Day 7

This reading is mostly about the genealogy. In the beginning of the verses, though, it is mentioned that an army of Jews still had God on their side. Why? Because they trusted in Him. This story isn't even a blip on the biblical lessons that I ever had as a child, but it is still important.

Our country is not the God fearing nation it once was. God is being chased out of our schools and every other part of public life at alarming rates. This makes room for other things that ought not be accepted. Same-sex marriage, homosexuality, witchcraft and other alarming elements are being welcomed to this country with opened arms, all in the name of tolerance. We are told to tolerate teenage abortions, but the word of God is not to be tolerated at all. Scary, huh?

This moral of this story is to stick to your guns, no matter what. Are you prepared to accept the intolerance of others? Are they prepared to accept your intolerance of what they represent?

Weekly Link Facing the Challenge Facing the Challenge is a training course to help Churches, Christian Unions, home groups, organizations and individual Christians get to grips with the particular challenge of our times. It takes six sessions, and is designed to be customized to meet your needs. The entire course costs about $33. I do like to share sites with free content, though, so I'll be concentrating on that. All manner of questions are explored on this site. If you want an opinion from a Christian source, this site likely has something in there on your subject. Evolution is explored, as is the various questions about Jesus. The latest movies and TV shows are reviewed with suggestions for or against your watching them. Society is explored and several spiritual issues are discussed. http://www.facingthechallenge.org/

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