Who Robs A Food Bank?
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports:
A local nonprofit is in dire need of help after thieves broke into its food pantry last weekend and walked away with office equipment and cleared out its shelves.
Larry Kapchinsky, the co-founder of KidCare International, estimates this has set back the pantry about $20,000. Now he’s asking the community to help them feed needy families this holiday season.
“A whole year of preparing for this season got wiped out in one night,” he said … Kapchinsky said he was in disbelief when the volunteer called to tell him the news. “Who steals from a food bank? We would have given them help if they just asked,” he said.
Kapchinsky says the suspects went into the freezer and took almost all the items, leaving unwanted items in the freezer. Those items went to waste because the freezer door stayed open.
“What they didn’t steal, they trashed,” he said.
Some people would rather resort to desperate measures, including stealing from a food bank, rather than ask for the help they need.
But thanksgiving begins with a willingness to receive. Don’t rob God of the gratitude He is due because you don’t know how to receive what has been freely given to you. And understand that even more valuable than all of the things the world has to offer is the possession of a grateful heart. Gratitude makes us rich. Possessing the whole world, without the proper gratitude toward God, leaves us poor.
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).
Finger and Thumb Deception
A pastor and collector of SATURDAY EVENING POST paraphernalia shares the following illustration of the subtleties of violating the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not steal":
… You may remember the SATURDAY EVENING POST covers that dealt with this particular commandment. The picture I’m referring to shows a woman buying a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving. The bird is lying on the scales and the butcher is standing in back of the counter…apron pulled tight over his fat stomach…pencil tucked behind his ear. The customer, a lady looking to be about 60 years young, stands watching the weighing in of the big bird. In the picture, both the lady and the butcher have pleased looks on their faces…as if each knew a secret joke.
Now, to see the reason for their knowing smiles you have to look closely at their hands. For, the butcher is pushing DOWN on the scales with a big fat thumb and the woman is pushing UP on the other side with a dainty forefinger. Neither is aware of what the other was doing so both apparently think they are getting the best of the other….STEALING without the other even knowing. I don’t remember the caption but I suppose it could be something like: “The case of the butcher’s THUMB and the lady’s FOREFINGER” But, whatever it’s title, it does serve to illustrate our attitude toward the 8th commandment.
*Click here to see a picture of the Leslie Thrasher classic "Tipping the Scales," which adorned the cover of THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, Oct 3, 1936.
He continues:
You see, both the butcher and the lady would resent being called thieves. The lady would never rob a bank or steal a car and if the butcher had a customer to give him a bad check, he would call the police and report a crime. But neither saw anything wrong with a little “finger or thumb deception” that would make a few cents for one or save a few cents for the other. And we are much like these two. We agree that this is a good commandment but we don’t think it really applies to us. After all we are not THIEVES!
Honesty Is The Best Policy
When I was a small boy growing up in Mississippi, my Granny was often a source of wisdom, unconditional love, good cooking, and entertainment. I'll never forget a lesson she taught me by accident about honesty. We had stopped at a convenience store after church, where she intended to get a Sunday paper from the machine out front. She gave me a quarter and told me to run get two papers, one for her and one for my mother.
I got to the machine and saw that a Sunday paper was 25 cents, and I shouted to her as she sat in the car that I would need another quarter. Granny said, "No, baby, just put the quarter in the slot, open the door, and get two papers out of the machine." I must have looked puzzled because she repeated herself a little louder.
About that time a customer walked out of the store, so when I proceeded to explain that I couldn't get two papers out of the machine without putting in two quarters, she shushed me, got out of the car, and said, "Just get in the car." I climbed into the car and watched as she put the quarter into the slot, opened the door, and retrieved two newspapers.
As the metal door slammed shut and she began to walk away, she was suddenly stopped short by the strap of her big, black purse hanging on her arm. She had accidentally caught the purse in the paper machine. With the door closed, she was stuck.
After a frustrating moment of indecision, Granny fished around, produced a second quarter, and freed herself from captivity. It was all I could do to keep from laughing, but something told me to keep that lesson to myself.
The Bible teaches us that stealing is always wrong and that it is what we do in our private moments that define our character and prove our witness to those around us. Doing the right thing is not one option among others for the Christian, it is a mandate.
Even when the compromise seems small, even when it appears no one is looking or is likely to be harmed, our theft, our lie, our disregard for what is right has consequences.
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here! And to him who lacks sense she says, 'Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.' But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol" (Proverbs 9:16-18, ESV).