Respecting Property
Do you know what it feels like to have someone steal an important item of your personal property? Most people say they feel violated. On a warm summer night several years ago my brother-in-law John Hershman and I drove in my car to the outdoor track of what is now Quioccasin Middle School to do our daily jogging. When we returned to the parking lot my car was missing and a bicycle with a flat tire was left in its place. Someone had stolen my car. I was shocked and felt violated! I wanted to shout out the 8th Commandment “thou shalt not steal” but John was my only audience. By the way I did recover the car slightly damaged a couple of days later. You can be sure from that fateful night forward I stopped leaving my keys on the drivers side floor mat and I lock the car no mater how safe the neighborhood.
Stealing is a major problem in our country. Walmart recently announced if we can’t find a way to stop the stealing we may go out of business. Putting security in place is important but the real hope is for God to change our hearts just like he did Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Zacchaeus was a Chief Tax Collector who was known for cheating and stealing. But when he met Jesus he promised “and if I have cheated anyone out of anything I will pay back four times the amount”. Making our wrongs right is a true sign of change.
Another aspect of Respect for Property is how we care for what we have and what belongs to others. Citing my grandmother again she would say, “Bobby couches and chairs are made to sit in not to jump on”. And she insisted on putting things back where they belong. To this day when I see shopping carts scattered across shopping center parking lots I want to say please put it back where it belongs.
I don’t have any illusions about starting a Respect Property Movement but I do want to raise my voice in support of taking care of what we have and what belongs to others. Perhaps God’s creation is a good place to start. Just a thought!
This concludes our series on Respect and I look forward to visiting with you next week on another topic. I pray that planting these spiritual seeds in your life will make a difference in the way you think about yourself, time, authority and property. Thanks for being a part of the change that will make the future brighter.
And that’s Hope on the Rise for now!
