I admit that I spend a lot of time in our local Walmart. Between buying stuff for home and then for church too,
I’ve gotten to know a number of the folks who work there. The other day I was shopping for church stuff, and I
decided to bypass the regular checkers and do the self-check-out. There was a line there but they have 10
stations so I figured that it would go pretty fast. They have lights on them to let you know which ones are
available and then which are closed down. As I looked from my place in line, I realized that out of all the
stations, only two were being used and there were 4 people monitoring those two self-checkout stands. As I got
to my turn one of the ladies who knows me ushered me over to one that was open and she whispered, “We only
have two working now because we are going to shut down the whole self-checkout section.” When I asked
why, she whispered “There is so much theft every day, the store can’t take the loss anymore.” Wow! But then
yesterday I went back to the store, and I went into the section where they had cosmetics, and I went in to pick
up some disposable razors. I noticed that there were two women standing at the entrance of this section and I
recognized one of them and said “Hi” and went to get my razors and as I started out, the lady I knew said “You
cannot leave this section of the store without paying for that right here”. I asked what was going on and she
said “We have so much theft in the store that we have to monitor everything that goes out from this section.
And it looks like we will have to start putting everything behind locked see-through doors.” On my way out, I
thought “What in the world is happening to us as a people?” So, I picked up my Bible and started looking
through verses and in Romans the Apostle Paul wrote about stealing and other acts that God has said “no” to.
And he said that the commandments of God are really just summed up in one commandment… “Love your
neighbor as yourself”. And then he wrote “Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of
God’s law.” And I realized that what I was seeing was the downward turn of people who love themselves, but
not the people around them. And how does that happen? It begins when we stop loving and honoring this God
of the Bible. We are experiencing the bitter harvest of those who have taught generations to ignore and deny
this God of the Bible and his commands for a good and loving life with people. People are saving a few bucks
by stealing makeup and even TVs…but we are losing our souls. So here is where Jesus makes a difference even
in our buying and selling. We act honestly and respectfully when we love the people around us. But that love is
only fueled by a love relationship with this Jesus of the Bible. When see the extra security and the higher
prices…what you are seeing is just one of the bills we pay for cutting God out of our society, our families and
our own lives. If you have given your heart to this Jesus of the Bible, he declares you now as righteous in his
sight. Go out and live that way, and know that life is fueled by your love for God and love for those around
you.
Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Romans 13:9-10 NLT For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Remember I’m praying for you…
With love, PJ
Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Romans 13:9-10 NLT For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Remember I’m praying for you…
With love, PJ