Sitting in a booth in a Shari's Restaurant the other day with a friend,
I looked outside as someone's car alarm was blaring incessantly. I
wondered what was taking the guy in the back seat so long to turn it
off. This happens to me frequently. It's embarrassing.
Suddenly
"the guy in the back seat" took off running, carrying something close to
his chest. The car alarm continued to blare in front of a whole line of
onlookers watching from their booths.
Just as he jumped into a
waiting car, someone in the restaurant cried, "Call the cops!" And the
car reeled away in a mad escape.
I had just witnessed a burglary.
Burglary. Just the word sounds evil, dirty, like something I would
never do. I would never take something that belonged to someone else!
And certainly not in front of curious onlookers trying to enjoy a meal!
Then, I read in Scripture that we are not our own. I don't belong to
myself. I am God's.
If my life is not my own, what kind of theft
am I committing when I make decisions without Him in mind, without
considering if my decisions would reflect His ownership over me, or
mine?
This would be "grand theft", because we have been bought
with a price far greater than we could have paid.
Belonging to
the Lord is true freedom, and He is a careful Guardian. We don't need to
take what belongs to Him into our own hands and do whatever we think is
better.
What kind of lives would we live in secret and in front
of onlookers if we remembered that our lives are not our own?
They are either His, or stolen.
Prayer: Father, You are the good
Guardian of our lives, the One Who knows what is best. May we never seek
to take what rightfully belongs to You. May onlookers observe, in us,
lives that are fully Yours. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Bethany Hayes
Portland, Oregon, USA
Thanks to
Daily Presbytarian
Grand Theft
Today's Bible Verse:
"You are not your own...for you were
bought at a price." (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a)
Grand Theft
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