A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A thief's partner is his own worst enemy. He will be punished if he tells the truth in court, and God will curse him if he doesn't.

Proverbs 29:24 (GNT)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I was watching a television show the other night and at the center of the plot was a group of women who had been recruited to shoplift expensive items from city stores. The women would enter the store dressed well and as one created a distraction, the others would quickly stuff expensive clothing in their bags and walk out. They would then turn the clothes into a fence who would sell the goods. The fence recruited the women off the street and provided them with food and a place to stay while they committed their crimes for him. They were under constant threat of harm if they left what he referred to as “the family.”

I couldn’t help but think of this situation and others like it in our world today when I read the following proverb:

A thief's partner is his own worst enemy. He will be punished if he tells the truth in court, and God will curse him if he doesn't. Proverbs 29:24

The matter of discussion surrounds not the thief but those who choose to partner with them. In the case of the women who got caught up in the ruse of the thief in the television show, they became his accomplices by acting as an extension of him. While he was the one who was in charge of the stolen goods and the income brought in from them, the girls he recruited were actually doing all the dirty work. And once caught up in the theft ring, they couldn’t step outside of it to tell anyone about what was happening, no matter how much they were convicted it was wrong, as they were under constant threat for their lives.

Such is the tangled web one can enter into when they opt to sin alongside of others and commit crimes. They know there is no way to escape punishment as either they will be convicted in a worldly court or they will face God’s judgment. It truly is a lose-lose proposition.

With this, the message from the word of God today is clear: No one gets away with anything when it comes to sin.

Now, before you think, “I’m off the hook here because surely I have never stolen anything or been an accomplice to anyone who has stolen”, let’s look at this from another perspective because there is a broader application of this scripture beyond the subject of theft.

Consider when one gossips. It’s a sin, right? The scriptures attest that it is. And yet, so many of us (and I think we’re all guilty of it) have partnered with the gossiper by either listening and not rebuking or, even worse yet, participate in the gossiping through spreading it to others. Either way, we are partnering with the sinner, one as a person who hears it and condones it by staying quiet or, on the other hand, one who becomes just as bad as the person who started the gossip by doing it ourselves.

Now we may never go to court for what we have done but we will be subject to the judgment of God for our choosing to partner with someone in sin and that is far worse than any worldly penalty we could suffer. Sin is always a losing proposition, no matter which way you cut it. And keep in mind that nothing escapes the sight of the Lord. Anytime we sin in any way, He sees it and we will be held accountable for the wrongs we commit.

So how do we make this proverb non-applicable to our lives? How do we ensure that we are never an accomplice to sin or the sinful behaviors of others?

It’s simple really. We make the Lord our one and only accomplice for the things we do in life, a decision that is always a win-win proposition. For when we choose to always partner with the Lord, then our associated actions will be right and righteous, ever pleasing in His sight.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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