8. You shall not steal.wow…i’m not sure i want to do this whole ’10 Commandments and what they mean for me” thing anymore. no stealing…i totally broke that one this morning! now, don’t worry, i didn’t rob a bank or anything, but i’m not sure if the monetary value really comes into play on this one. The Commandment doesn’t say “You shall not steal anything valued over $5,000”, or “You shall not steal from family, only major corporations”…it says “You shall not steal”. period.
how many times do we try to justify this one too? there’s always a loophole to be found in our own minds if we contemplate on it long enough.
just today, only a couple hours ago, i stole something, two things actually. See, i ran in a marathon last month, and part of the package is that the event organizer has photographers situated all along the route to snap photos of everyone. then, they email you a link taking you to a website full photos of you (or in this case, me). now, each of the pictures are copyrighted and are not allowed to be downloaded. i tried several ways to get around their technology and at least print out a couple on my own printer, but apparently they are smarter than i am. after all, that’s how they ‘get’ you. one 5”x7” print is $16.95…with that, the question arises, who’s stealing from whom!?
well, i was informed by a coworker that they have computer programs you can download that will allow you to cut and past copyrighted online images and save them for personal use. so, what does jeff do? why, download the previously mentioned program, of course…and much to my amazement, it works! so, i go to the link, select a couple of the pictures, click a couple buttons, and presto, the images are now saved to my hard drive…to print, to share, whatever!
less than 2 hours later, i decide to continue my quest on The 10 Commandments…and what stares me right in the face…the next Commandment…good ‘ol #8, “You shall not steal”. awesome! of all days…i’ve only been trying to download these pictures for about 3 weeks now..and wouldn’t you know it, on the day i’m successful, there’s 4 little words looking me back in the face. isn’t it funny how God works sometimes!? well, to celebrate my stupidity, i’ve included one of those ‘stolen’ pictures to the left…
enjoy my sin!
2 comments:
the really crappy part is that now you'll have to pay for what you stole...right?
It sounds like your review of the Ten Commandments is bearing good fruit. Anyone can go through the Ten Commandments and teach how others should obey them. But when someone studies a commandment, sees where he has broken it, and then repents and changes, that is far better fruit than teaching a million people about it. I think God is pleased with that kind of fruit.
And think, you still have seven commandments to go!
Maybe this is a test. Will you allow each commandment to correct you where you fall short? There is a great opportunity here to please God, if you pass the test.
Keep up the good work.
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