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Ten Commandments (8)
The Ten Commandments 8
Mike Willis
The eighth of the Ten Commandments is “You shall not steal” (Exod. 20:15). In a recent report from Fox News, Teny Sahakian wrote, “In 2021, retail ‘shrink,’ or thefts, cost the industry $94.5 billion in losses, up 4% year-over-year and nearly double the $50.6 billion in 2018, according to data from the National Retail Federation” (https://www.foxnews.com/us/rampant-retail-theft-making-inflation-worse-threatens-bleeding-businesses-economists-say).
Most of us have seen the videos of a gang of people running into a store, grabbing whatever they want, throwing it in a van, and speeding off. Shoplifting not only costs the merchants, but their losses and higher insurance rates must be passed on to the customer, contributing to higher inflation rates.
But more than a financial cost, stealing is sinful behavior, not a way for making a living! Sadly, the moral breakdown in America is seen not only in the rising number of murders, the breakdown of the home in adultery, but also in the increased number of thefts occurring in America. It may be shoplifting, stealing a car, robbing a bank or convenience store, embezzling, illegally copying intellectual property, or some other way.
Stealing has swamped our court systems to the point that shoplifting is not prosecuted if it is below a certain dollar amount. Our prison systems cannot house all the criminals. The result is that criminals know that there are fewer consequences to their criminal behavior. Does anyone else remember when you did not lock your doors when you left home and did not lock your doors when you parked your cars?
How does one turn this system around? We have two choices: (1) A strong police state with more surveillance of our lives and building more prisons or (2) A return to teaching God’s law about sin and encouraging obedience to that law. Which do you prefer?
