Thus Sayeth the Lord - Do Not Steal

In Exodus 20:15, God commands, “You shall not steal." But beneath the surface of that simple command lies a deeper call: to trust in God’s provision and to love others selflessly. In this message, Shandi explores how the heart of stealing isn’t just about taking possessions, but about forgetting the Giver of all good things. 

Transcript

So if you didn't know, I'm from Tennessee. So in the words of my people, happy fall y'all. I am so excited even though I'm colorblind and so I don't see the fall trees the same way that you do. I know if I see one that looks cool, it's like multiplied times 10 times that cool. And I was telling Sam earlier about the leaves falling. He was like, look, it's fall glitter, like it's everywhere. And I'm so excited too that it's not raining. And tomorrow it's supposed to be like a high of 60 and sunny. So I am so excited. And one of the things that I love so much about fall is that I can pull out my chunky sweaters. I like to layer, I want my cozy chunky, stretchy sweaters and all that kind of stuff. But I have a few favorite sweaters. And they've got that hole. Because you know if the yarn gets cut or whatever, that it just grows and grows and grows, right? And basically you have to sew up that whole hole and it's never the same again. So anytime one of those sweaters gets cut unlike the kitchen cabinets or whatever else it is, a dog that's excited to see you in the cloths here, like the sweater is kind of in shambles because it's all made of one piece of yarn that's all connected. And so even though they've got the different rows and stuff in the sweater, it's all connected. And in the same way the 10 commandments are all connected. Even though there's 10 separate commandments, they're all part of one greater hole. And so even though we've got the first four commandments that are vertical about our relationship with God and then the next six are horizontal and they're about our relationship with others, they are all one thing and they're all talking about love. How to love God and how to love others. And they tell us this. And Jesus actually summarizes the 10 commandments in Matthew 22 verses 37 through 39. When he says, "You shall love the Lord your God "with all your heart and with all your soul "and with all your mind." This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor "as yourself." So when someone says, "Hey Jesus, "like what is the greatest commandment?" This is what he says. "You're supposed to love the Lord your God "with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind." And he is actually in that passage, he is quoting what the Jews called the great Shema or that means prayer. So it's great prayer. So it is this great prayer that they would have recognized and he said, "And the second is with it." It says, "To love your neighbor." So Deuteronomy chapter six verses four and five is where we find the great Shema that is written down in their books of the law. It's the first five books of the Bible or Earth called the Torah. And it says, "Here, O Israel, the Lord, our God, "the Lord is one." That sounds like some of those first few commandments, doesn't it, right? There were supposed to worship one God and one God alone and no graven images. It says, "You shall love the Lord your God "with all your heart and with all your soul "and with all your might." And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. So he talks about our heart, our soul, and our might. And I would say that obedient love to obey the commands of God is not skin deep. It doesn't just say your actions. It says all your heart, all your soul, and all your might with your whole person obey God. Jesus went on to say that our love for our neighbor made the cut. It wasn't just to love the Lord or God with all our heart with all our soul, with all our might, but also to love our neighbor. And so the rest of the 10 commandments are unpacking that and what it looks like, how to love God and how to love others is given to us in instructions in the 10 commandments. And we have four powerful words in Exodus chapter 20 verse 15 that we're gonna spend talking about tonight. It is, "Thou shall not steal." Exodus 2015, you should have it memorized now. Say it with me, "Thou shall not steal." Great, we can go home now, right? We've got a lot of homework, just kidding. So this text here that Moses tells us about the law that God has given him, says that one way we love our neighbor is by not stealing from them. Bush, maybe. We know what stealing is, what are you gonna talk about for the rest of the time that we're here? So stealing is taking what isn't yours. And usually we infer that it's the tangible things, right? Like I should not steal X, Y, and Z, I shouldn't steal a car. That's a problem, right? Like I shouldn't steal these things, but you can also steal something intellectually, cheating on homework or tests, right? It's intellectual theft, or perhaps it's personhood. So when people are taken into slavery, does that still happen? Yes, it absolutely does. It actually visited multiple ministries that are part of rescuing people from human trafficking. So the personhood, maybe an experience that you take or steal from someone. When someone violates another person, they are stealing from their personhood and their experience. Or also sometimes stealing time, right? So that is another method of theft that we have. But Romans chapter 13 verse nine says, "For the commandments you shall not commit adultery, which you guys talked about last week, you shall not murder, you shall not steal tonight, you shall not covet, which Jay is gonna cover later." And any other commandment are summed up in this word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Those six commands are summed up in that one statement that is made, Alistair Berg, he said, "We cannot claim to be adequately obeying this command by fulfilling the negative aspect alone." And that gave me some pause to think, 'cause usually we just talk about, here's how not to steal, right? But Alistair Berg is saying, it's not just about the action of stealing, but there is also an inaction implied. Not only should you not steal and take from your neighbor, but there is a positive response that is also assumed as the opposite of stealing. Stealing does not love your neighbor. Stealing is taking with a closed hand instead of with an open hand living generously. Which we'll talk more about that later. So who is our neighbor? If you guys will look with me in Luke chapter 10, Jesus tells us who our neighbor is, and verses 25 through 37. Luke 10 verse 25 through 37. Now I'm gonna go ahead and read it because I think sometimes we get familiar with stories or maybe we haven't heard the stories and it's always good to hear from God's word again, right? So Luke 10, starting in verse 25. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, say, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor is yourself." And he said to him, "You've answered correctly. Do this and you will live." So he quoted the great Shema, right? He said, "We're supposed to love God and love others." And then Jesus unpacks that a little bit, but he designed to justify himself said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers." So they stole from him, right? Who stripped him and beat him, they robbed his person as well as his pockets, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road. And if anybody is going to see this person in need, it's going to be the priest who knows the great Shema, who has spent his life not just reading these texts, but to share it with the people. And then what does it say when he saw him, he passed by on the other side? I'm not even going to check and see if the guy's breathing. I'm going to cross to the other side. So likewise, a Levite. They're from the priesthood tribe, okay? So also he should know, right? His people are where the priests come from. He should be familiar with the laws of God. He should be good at obeying God. When he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But as Samaritan, okay, Shanti, who's a Samaritan? Great question. Samaritans and Jews hated each other. They wanted nothing to do with each other. In fact, they would travel miles and miles out of their way in order to avoid one another. And it was a Jewish man that was lying, beat up, and half dead, and people couldn't tell if he was dead or not. This Samaritan comes by. And as he journeyed, he came to where he was and he saw him and he had compassion. Now, if you want to do a cool word study in the Bible sometime, go through and look at the times that Jesus had compassion on others. The Samaritan had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring an oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. So this dude walked and put the injured beaten man on his own transportation and took him to an inn. And the next day, he took out two denari and gave them to the innkeeper saying, take care of him. And whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. So dude was headed to his business, went above and beyond by not just like patching him up, but then taking him somewhere and paying for him to stay there, and then promised to come back. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers, he said? The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. The man was robbed of his finances, of his health and his safety was stolen from him. The priest in the Levite who should have known better crossed to the other side and ignored him. And they hardened their hearts. They listened to their bias and their prejudice instead of obedience. So not only did they walk on the other side, but they broke that commandment. They weren't the ones who actually robbed him, but they refused to live generously. And by refusing to live generously, they participated in the theft of this man on the side of the road. They chose bias over obedience, but this Samaritan, he restored and he provided even though he is not the one who stole. He loved his neighbor. And even though he was a Samaritan, he wasn't the priest, he wasn't from the priestly tribe. He lived out these commands that God had given. Guys, if we profess to be Christians, then we will obey his commands, commands to love God and to love others. And we're not going to split hairs about all the people that fall outside of the walls of that command. 'Cause I'll tell you nobody falls outside, the walls of that command. So who is your neighbor? It's your roommate. It's your professor. Even those you don't really like. It's your boss. I've had a boss that slammed doors in my face whenever I said, "Good morning." He was my neighbor too. It's your employer, the company that you work for. It is any authority figure that you have, whether it's the government or the police department or your parents. It's your family, it's your friends. It's the person who wronged you. It's the person who annoys you. Your neighbor is any person who has created in the image of God. And in case there's a question, that covers everyone. Every person is your neighbor. Now, I love a good crime movie. Okay, I chill, my husband makes fun of me 'cause I relax by watching crime shows and movies and stuff like that. That's really awful, not comedies. I don't know, maybe it's 'cause it's a problem. I don't have to solve. But I love the movies, like "Ocean's Eleven," right? And where there's a Vegas casino that they rob from or "Ocean's Twelve," where they have to pay the dude back. And so they steal this Imperial Fabricet egg, right? Or "Ocean's Thirteen," where you've got this Vegas casino and they're robbing like all of the machines. And then also the vault treasures. You guys remember that guy that's folded up in the little box? Like, my husband didn't know until we saw somebody that was doing that when we were in Mexico. He was like, I think that's something I'm afraid of. It really creeps me out. Let me know when it's over, I can't watch. Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, they're really great. Or in "Ocean's Eight," right? When you've got these women and they rob the Met Gala of its jewels. And it sounds like, hey, that's a cool movie. But if you were reading the news on October 19th, do you know what happened in the Louvre? "Ocean's Eight," guys? Four suspects. In seven minutes, wearing neon vests, rode a cherry picker to the second story during night, like 9.30 in the morning, while it was open. And they cut the window, like with, you know, that glass cutter toy that goes around. And then they go in, and then they break the cases, tell the security guards, we'll hurt you if you whatever. And then they steal nine jewels from like the Napoleonic era. And then they dropped a tiara on their way out and forgot one of the earrings. But over $102 million in jewels. And to this day, a week and a half later, the only item recovered was the tiara that they dropped, right? OK, and then this is the best part, guys. Like they come out and they go down the same way they came in. And do you know how they escape the authorities? Scooters! They were doubled up on scooters with $102 million of jewels. Now, they have a couple people that are currently in custody. I've had to like update my notes every couple of days because it's changed. But several days later, they still didn't have anybody. Guys, it's 2025. I can't tell what's real from what's fake half the time when I'm scrolling on Facebook. I got really excited about a movie coming out. And I told Ben, he's like, that's AI, honey. But they can't find these people. And two of them were arrested in an airport. One of them 45 minutes before his flight to Algeria took off. They barely caught the dude. And it was just last night that they arrested some more suspects. So now, three of the four probably are in custody. Two of them only partially confessed to being involved after 96 hours of interrogation. There are 100 investigators on this thing. And they still have a thousand jewels. It's crazy. Like it blows my mind. This seems like a movie. But I mean, I don't think any of us are going to be professional jewel thieves in the making. So once you just time travel with me to 1996, I'm going to move this out of the way so you guys can all see this video. Is the video? So that's me that just ran behind the shrub. I wasn't great at finding eggs. So three times to her face, I robbed her Easter egg basket. And then this poor boy in orange, I tackled him. I think one of the eggs had a $10 bill in it. And I was determined to find it. Even if it meant that I had to literally take an egg out of somebody else's basket. It's OK to think less of me. I do. I know I was punished. I don't know if my parents made it me give her half of my eggs as an apology. I'm sure I was grounded. So my parents had this old school camcorder, right? And the kids scatter everywhere. And I wasn't finding the eggs that I wanted. And I see this girl that was really good and really fast. And I saw what she had, and I wanted it so I took it. Three times to her face in my head when I was telling people this story before, like the basket was held out behind her, and I was doing it. No, it's like robbing the Louvre at 9.30 in the morning while it's open. Not even coming through the ductwork, like they do in the movies. Straight up through the window on the front of the building. That's what I did with this poor girl. And we laugh about it, and it's really funny. But the way that I stole is the way that we steal. We see something, we want something, we take something. Now, Jay's going to talk about coveting later, but as I was studying this stealing and coveting are really two sides of the same coin. theft starts with coveting. We're seeing something, with wanting it. We want what we want, when and how we want it. It goes from thought with coveting to action, which is the stealing. And we do it regardless of the impact or the consequence to the victim. Also, we sanitize theft. We justify and we rationalize. Oh, like the Robin Hood syndrome. Well, it's not really that big a deal. And this company is so big, they're not really going to notice. It's just a little bit. It's going to just come off the top, and it's going to help other people. Or there was 12 breakfast sandwiches in the freezer. Nobody's going to notice if I took one of them, even though I don't know who they belong to. Or some ice cream cones. I really want that ice cream cone. I've been craving it. I don't have any ice cream. They're not going to know that it's mine. We see we want we take. And it doesn't just have to be a 12-- no, major wrong numbers. 102 million dollar jewel heist for it to count as theft. It can be something small and insignificant. We think, as long as nobody saw or nobody notices, nobody's going to care. And it doesn't really matter. Or if it doesn't actually hurt someone. So let's go to Genesis chapter 2. And let's look at the first theft. I find myself ending up here a lot, because I think so many things go back to the beginning. In Genesis chapter 2, we're going to start in verse 15. If you don't know where we are, it's after God has finished breathing everything into existence and into creation. And I kind of figure if someone has the business to tell me what I shouldn't do, it's the one who breathes everything and spoke everything into existence and creation. And so he creates Adam, and he says, the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and attend it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the Garden. He's provided abundantly and bountifully. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. So there's this one thing that God said, that's not for you. All of this is for you, just not this one thing. It's not for you. It's not good for you. And then we go down, I almost said scroll. I'm not scrolling. If you're scrolling scroll, if not, then go down to chapter 3 verses 1 through 8. As is now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, the God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the Garden. And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the Garden. The gods that you shall eat, the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the Garden, either shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. See later, when we read a verse, God says that they are like us. So in one aspect, he wasn't wrong with what he said. But he was intentionally twisting it, right, saying, hey, look, don't you see this? Don't you want this? So when the woman saw that the tree was good, notice that word, saw that the tree was good for food. And it was a delight to the eyes. I want that fruit. And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. She took of its fruit in 8. And she also gave some to her husband. And this part has always stood out to me. It says, who was with her in 8? We'll talk about that more in a moment, too. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked. And they sewed big leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man is white hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Adam and Eve specifically took what God did not want for them. And he wasn't withholding it from them because he was being a jerk. He was holding it from them out of his goodness. He said, the weight of the knowledge of good and evil is too heavy for your shoulders. Have you ever felt like the weight of the knowledge of good and evil in this world is too heavy? And that it's too much? Maybe God knew what he was talking about when he said, don't eat that fruit. It's not for you. And they said, nah, I know better. It looks delicious. I want it. I'm going to take it. And they did. And I think some things that come with theft, the first one that we see here is shame. The expectation from God was clear. But I think Adam and Eve both sinned in this moment. And because Adam was the one who received the direct instructions from God. And he gave it to Eve. But the verse says he was there with her when the serpent was talking to her. And when he heard her misquote, what God said, he said nothing. He didn't say, whoa, babe. I know it looks good, but we need to go over here because that's not what God said. Here's what God actually said. There was no accountability. He did not love her in that moment by protecting her with what the Lord had told him. And so she took and he was like, what's going to happen? And as, oh, I just think like the mangoes that I ate when I was in Cambodia off the tree and they were warm from the sun and like that mango juice. And Adam saw Eve like eating that delicious ripe mango or whatever it is. And then he's like, oh, I want some of that. And he ate it too. But then there was shame. Adam partnered in his passive silence and Eve in her action. Guys, there is no freedom in disobedience. I'm going to say that one more time. There is no freedom in disobedience. That's what Satan tells us and that's what he was implying to Eve. You're missing out. And if you eat this fruit, you won't be missing out anymore. But there was bondage in their disobedience, not freedom. Guys, what Jesus tells us, what God tells us is there is freedom in obedience. Through obedience to God, they had access to a relationship with God. And because of their disobedience, that relationship was negatively impacted. Verses 9 through 20, it shifts from shame to blame. Like, well, it's not my fault. It was the snake. It was the woman. It was a man. It was a tree. It was my eyes. You know, like they have this blame game that's going on here. And what stands out to me in that is that theft often pulls others into our sin. Theft causes division, intention. Theft also has consequences. Some are immediate, how they felt naked. I mean, they were. But they were aware of it and filled with shame. But sometimes those consequences are more long term. God tells them these curses that they're going to have because of their disobedience. And then later, we find more because they're kicked out of the garden in verse 21 through 23. But in that, we also see God's provision. Read with me in verse 21 through 23. It says, "In the Lord God made for Adam and for His wife garments of skin and clothed them." I talked about how our theft often pulls others into our sin. Guys, that's the first listed death that we have. The animal that had to die for God to make the clothing for them as they left the garden. Our sin is consequences that impact others in many ways. But it says that He made skins and clothed them. He had compassion on them. He gave provision for them. Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us." It's the Trinity speaking amongst itself. And knowing good and evil, now less He reached out His hand and take of the root of the tree of life and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent Him out of the garden of Eden to work the ground from which He was taken. Guys, do you realize that God sending them out of the garden was actually a blessing? Because if not, they would have lived forever under the curse of the weight of knowledge of good and evil. No freedom from the messed up things. But because they were out of the garden, death would happen eventually, which meant that living under that curse was not forever. And it's the beginning of the story. And if you want to like really geek out like my favorite parts, the first part and the ending part of the Bible, because they are forced to leave through a blood sacrifice out of the garden and into this in between. And then in Revelation, we find that through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, we're welcome back into the garden and perfected relationship with God, right? How cool is it that our Bibles begin and in that way? That's a freebie. God restored and provided, though He did not steal, just like the Samaritan did in the story that I read to you earlier. Adam and Eve's identity was not in the garden. It was in their God. Their identity was not in the gifts that God gave them, but in the giver himself. Guys, what is our heart's desire? Is it God or the gifts that He gives, even the ones that may not belong to us? So I want to spend the rest of our time talking about the heart of a thief. Because I think there's four things that stealing reveals in the heart of a thief. And the first one, stealing reveals our fear. We steal because we do not trust the provision of God. See, theft assumes and implies assumes deficiency. I am lacking, therefore I will take. Fear is theft. I take or I withhold because of fear. I can't afford to be generous. OK, you can't give 100 bucks, but you can round up at McDonald's for the Ronald McDonald House with 13 cents, right? And as someone who the Ronald McDonald House actually had a direct impact in helping my family while my nephews were in NICU for months. And it was the only way that my sister was able to be with her babies. That 13 cents multiplied by the however billions the people get french fries every week. Made a huge difference. Fear is theft, whether it's taking or withholding. It's not believing that God cares enough to provide for you, and it's not trusting Him. Will we be faithful with what He has given us, even if it's little guys? I know I'm talking to college students. Now, most of you guys in salaries is going to be more than all obviously on a paycheck. I promise you that. But you will not be generous later if you are not generous now. Scripture tells us in Luke 16, 10 through 12. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest with much. If you want to be people that are generous, instead of operating out of fear later, you need to start practicing that now. You may not have a lot of time, but do you have a little bit of time in order to have a conversation that's meaningful to someone? Just talk to somebody here that you don't know before you leave. You're not time for that. I know your homework's calling. I'm not asking you to stay for three hours, right? Be generous. Be open-handed. Don't live with this assumed deficiency, but trust God to provide. The second thing is that ceiling reveals our greed. Stealing reveals our greed. We steal because we aren't content with the provision of God. This contentment is theft. We want the forbidden fruit. We see, we want, we take. First, 10 of these six. Guys, it's the Scripture reference. I'm not making it up versus 6 and 7. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. Are we content with the things that God has given us? And it's not merely about refraining from stealing but having a generous spirit living with an open hand versus a closed fist. There's a quote by Kevin DeYoung that says, "Jesus is never against the human impulse for treasure." I think he created cool things for a reason. I think God enjoys cool things and enjoys that we enjoy cool things. It has gotten some really cool Lego. I think that's awesome. But God is against the fool who thinks that earthly treasure really satisfies or lasts. Another quote that I loved by Jen Wilkins says, "Heaven is anointingly invisible." So we turn to the visible and find that we would just as soon store up treasure here. Are we so focused on accumulating the treasure here that we forget about the things that are actually internal and matter and maybe it's that conversation with somebody after catalyst. Maybe it's actually reaching out to someone and following up with them. Maybe it's plugging in and serving at your church. I know y'all are busy. We got time to hug somebody at church. Maybe a grandparent. They want to hug you too. I know they told me. And contentment, we also get better at practicing generosity. When I am content with what God has given me, it's easier for me to let go of things. 'Cause I'm not hoarding things. I don't find my identity in the gifts, but in the giver. Because I'm content in who he says that I am before I can let those things go. And when someone forgets to return a pen, I'm not angry. It's a pen. Are we wise and generous stewards of what God has entrusted to us? Kevin DeYoung says whatever we have is on loan from him. It's not mine. I'm just tending the things that he has given me. So stealing reveals our fear. It reveals our greed. It also reveals our pride. We steal because we won't submit to the boundaries given by God. Pride is theft. It's willful disobedience. I know better. Adam and Eve, they said that I know better and they obeyed their own desires instead of trusting the God that gave them everything. I'm the author of my own story. Number four, stealing reveals our selfishness. I would put in parentheses laziness. We steal because we love ourselves above our neighbor. Selfishness and laziness are theft. Ephesians 4.28 says, "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need." Did you catch that? Why do you work so that he may have something to share? It's not about you. God wants us to live generously. The opposite of stealing is generosity. The opposite of taking is giving. The opposite of a closed hand is an open one. Thaft takes from others by the inability to choose generosity. One of my favorite quotes by Jen Wilkin, which should be on the screen or in the app or whatever, because it's a long one, sometimes it's easier to read along, but I didn't want to restate it 'cause she said it better than I could. Don't just be a not thief. If you take nothing else from tonight, remember that one. Ah, shall not steal. Don't just be a not thief. Be a provider of abundance. There are two ways of living as a taker or as a giver. We can be a terminus or a distribution point. If a terminus you will labor without rest to acquire, that which you cannot keep. If a distribution point, you will labor to give away that which was never truly yours to begin with. When we refrain from taking what is ours and rush to give what we have received, we make manifest the kingdom here and now. In the desert, when Moses has the 10 commandments, God told his people love me and love others. And Matthew was Jesus is in the sermon on the mount which we're gonna talk more about next semester. Jesus tells his followers love God and love others. And I am telling you, if you profess to be a Christian and a follower of Christ, you must love God and you must love others. And tangibly that means obeying his commands. That means to love and honor God is to love and honor one another and it's outlined in the 10 commandments. And today I'm telling you that to love and honor one another is to not steal. And the flip side of the not stealing is to live generously. So what is the heart of a believer instead of the heart of a thief, instead of fear, choose trust? I don't know how the scholarships are gonna work out. Apply, work hard, and see what God does. Instead of greed, give generously. You can afford the bundle at McDonald's. You can afford to round up the 65 cents. Instead of pride, live honestly and humbly about the identity of God, being where we find our identity and not in the things that he's given us. Instead of selfishness and laziness, work faithfully. God has never asked or demanded perfection of us but he has asked us to work hard the best of our ability for his glory. And to do anything other than that is an act of theft. I love you guys and I am so proud of you guys work so hard in your studies and in your jobs and I've been at this a long time and I've seen so many of you graduate and go on to these careers and do incredibly impactful things. And I've seen so many of our alumni live so generously and their word and in their heart and in their pockets and in their lives as they adopt people as they go into missions and ministry all around the world as their great examples of Christ serving their neighbor as they bring meals to people who are sick. And I would challenge you guys, ask God, how can I live generously today? How can I do more than just be a not thief and glorify you in all that I say and do? I think I pray with you. Jesus, we love you. God, I'm so thankful that you have made it so clear to us what it looks like to be your people. It's to love you and it's to love others. And because sometimes we can be sick headed, you spell it out and what it looks like and what that means. God, I ask that you would convict us of the areas that maybe we are guilty of being thieves, where we steal, where we don't honor and obey you. But God, on the other side of that, please show us where we can practice generosity in our lives. I know sometimes our resources or our time or our energy is limited, but show us how good we can be generous anyway. God encourages us, help us to know and follow you better. It's in Jesus' name we pray.