8 - Not a Friend for You!

Proverbs 6:
30. Excuses might be found for a thief, if he steals when he is starving!
31. But even so, he is fined seven times as much as he stole,
though it may mean selling everything in his house to pay it back.
Proverbs 29
24. A man who assists a thief must really hate himself!
For he knows the consequence but does it anyway.
LB

Someone you should not cultivate as a friend, is a thief. The wise man who wrote the Proverbs says that when you are the companion of a thief you are indicating that you hate yourself.

In other words: you are willingly courting disaster and destruction for your own life!

Now there are ways of talking about stealing which make it sound reasonable and not a bad thing to be involved in.
One way of justifying stealing is by saying that I was so hungry that I just had to have something to eat.

However, all actions have consequences and no matter how we justify our wrong actions, we will still suffer the consequences of those actions sooner or later!

When we are the companion of a thief, we are just as guilty.
Many times, for instance, the one who drives the get-away car is charged equally with those who actually did the robbery.

Make sure you are not allowing anyone to make stealing sound like something good to you. When you begin thinking that wrong is right in your mind, you are on dangerous ground.

Prayer:
Father, if I have allowed myself to become involved with stealing in any way - even if it is stealing the good name of another, please forgive me, and help me to get away from the companions who have been leading me astray.
I desire to walk with You in the paths of righteousness today and every day,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.  

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LB stands for "The Living Bible", by Tyndale House Publishers
NKJV stands for "The New King James Bible",
by Thomas Nelson Publishers