MEMORISE: “Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:10 (KJV)
READ: Joshua 7:13-26 (KJV)
13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
14 In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man.
15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
18 And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.
24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 35-36
MESSAGE
Exodus 22:2-3 says that the death penalty is appropriate for a thief. Proverbs 29:24 also says that if you partner with a thief, you hate your soul. You are not allowed to steal as a child of God. Stealing means taking that which does not belong to you without the permission of the owner or using that which is not yours as if it were.
When I was a lecturer, I wrote a personal letter and wanted to use an official envelope. Then, God said, “Don’t!”. I replied, “Why not?” He said, “That’s for official letters, not personal letters.” I responded, “Lord, how much does an envelope cost?” and He said, “If you know an envelope is that cheap, go and buy yours.”
Jeremiah 17:11 tells us:
As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
The scripture above is saying that if a person acquires wealth by fraudulent means, it will not last, and the fellow will eventually regret his or her actions. For example, in 2 Kings 5:20-27, Gehazi fraudulently sought to amass material possessions from Naaman but ended up becoming a leper.
Several years ago, I was chairman of a high school’s board of governors. I decided to help the school by building a boys’ and girls’ hostel, a school hall, and the principal’s quarters.
The principal decided that it was also an opportunity for him to build a small house in his hometown with some of the resources provided for the school’s building project. So, as the school buildings were being constructed, he was also building his little mansion. When he finished, somebody surfaced and said, “Who built on my land?” He said, “I bought this land from so and so.” The real landowner replied, “You bought it from the wrong fellow.” The principal said, “Okay, let’s not argue, how much do you want for the land?” The man said he was not selling the land and asked him to remove his house. The house is still there today, uninhabited.
The landowner didn’t bother using the land, he clearly didn’t even need it. All the principal’s efforts were wasted, and his dreams were dashed because the word of God is clear.
The life of a thief is a terrible one. His days are full of curses, and there is no peace for him at all. Beloved, it is only the blessing of God that comes without adding sorrow (Proverbs 10:22).
KEY POINT:
Thou shalt not steal.
Open Heavens 2024 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
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