You shall not steal. [Exodus 20:19]
"Is it Sin if You Didn’t Know?"
Susan and Janie and Heather loved to go to the mall. If they
had a little money to spend, that was extra fun but even if they didn’t
they loved to just look at things and get treats at the food court and meet
friends from school and church and just be kids for a while. Susan’s
mother felt sure the mall was safe because the girls were together and had good
common sense and several members of their church worked at the mall and the
food court so they kept an eye on the girls, even though the girls didn’t
know that.
This Saturday was like all the others as Susan waited for
Janie and Heather to get to her house for mom to drive them to the mall. She
fussed with her make up and hair trying different styles and thinking of how
the kids in school would react to a different color. Finally, they got here and
everybody in the house scattered as the girls had their reunion in the front
hall with all the necessary giggling and gossiping and telling each other how
cute they looked in their outfits.
“Mom are you ready to
go?” Susan called up the stairs. “Janie and Heather are here.”
“Just a minute honey.” Susan’s mom yelled down and
finally she came down all ready to go but she had Susan’s little brother
Timmy tagging along with her. “Susan, be a dear and let Timmy tag along
with you girls. Mrs. Henderson next door is sick so he can’t go over
there.”
At first, Susan pouted and made a fuss because she was
afraid Timmy would be a bother. “Susan let him come. We love Timmy. He is
so funny and cute and we will help you watch him so he doesn’t wander
off.” Janie whispered to her friend.
“Yes do Susan”
Heather chimed in “You know all the kids love Timmy when he comes and sits
in on Sunday School when your dad teaches.”
So Susan agreed and
they all had a big time tickling Timmy in the car and getting him to laugh and
making him everybody’s cute little brother, not just Susan’s. At the
mall, the four had a wonderful time together. Instead of being a bother, Timmy
learned how to make his sister and her friends laugh with his silly faces or
things he would say making fun of the clothes or the people at the mall walking
around. “He’s so funny Susan, we just love him.” Heather said
once laughing at his antics so hard that she almost fell down. The afternoon
passed quickly and before they knew it, mom had picked them up and they were on
the way home for a sleepover.
The girls got busy getting Susan’s
room ready for a night of watching chick flicks and doing all the fun things
that a sleepover had to have. There was plenty of popcorn and ice cream and
make up to do each other over with and they were talking and trying to decide
what movies to watch. Suddenly the air was filled with loud sobs.
“Susan!” She heard her sweet little brother cry out from his room
down the hall. All three girls ran in. There on his bed sat Timmy cross-legged.
He had spread on his blanket some of the toys he had bought at the mall but he
was holding a big candy bar and just sobbing. Susan loved Timmy tons and
didn’t want him to cry so she sat on the bed and held him and Heather and
Janie patted him and comforted him.
“What is it Timmy, did
someone hurt you?” Susan gently asked him as he calmed down enough to
talk.
“No, look!” and he opened his hand which was wrapped
around a very large candy bar. “I don’t think I paid for this Susan.
I know I had it in my hand at that candy booth in the food court. But Heather
called for me to come look at the movie posters and I just ran to her with it
in my hand and put it in my bag without thinking. I stole it Susan.” He
sobbed. “God is going to hate me, won’t he? I did a terrible
sin.”
“Susan, remember Pastor Smith’s sermon last week
on ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal?” Janie asked. “I know all of us
including Timmy went to the alter and promised God we never would steal.
What’s going to happen Susan? Will Timmy go to hell for stealing
now?” Janie asked her friend and she was near tears at the idea of Timmy
being in so much trouble with God.”
“I don’t know”
Susan exclaimed nearing tears herself holding Timmy tight.
All of the
children were about to break down in tears when Heather finally said,
“Wait let’s ask your mom.” She ran to the door, out into the
hall and called down to Susan’s mom. “Mrs. Morris, please come
help!” Her voice was so full of panic that Susan’s mom came rushing
up the stairs expecting to find someone bleeding. She found the girls and Timmy
sobbing in Timmy’s room.
“Timmy, Susan, what’s wrong?
Are you sick?” Their mom said warmly but a little scared touching each of
their heads for a temperature like all moms do.
“No its worse. I
think Timmy is doomed.” Susan cried. “See when we went to the
mall…” and between all four of them Mrs. Morris figured out what the
problem was. Suddenly just laughed out loud like she had heard the funniest
joke ever.
“Why are you laughing mom? I don’t want Timmy to
go to hell.” Susan objected.
“Kids listen to me. Timmy, did
you intend to steal the candy?” She asked holding Timmy’s hand.
Heather and Janie sat cross-legged on the floor listening.
“No
Mommy, I didn’t even know I did it. Is that sin Mommy? Is it sin if you
didn’t know?” He asked desperate to know if he was in bad trouble
with God.
“Kids remember our Sunday School lesson about sin?
Remember what sin is?” She asked.
“I remember Mrs.
Morris.” Said Janie. “Sin is anything that keeps us from loving
God.”
“That’s right Janie. Timmy, sin is something that
comes out of your heart when it wants to rebel against God. It is something you
decide to do when you know you shouldn’t. If you had found the candy in
your bag and not cried and not told anyone and kept it or ate it knowing you
had not paid for it, then you would have stolen it and you would be in sin.
“Then I am not doomed, Mommy?” Timmy said trying to feel
relieved.
“You are sensitive to what God wants, Timmy. Girls you
are too, that’s why you cried so much. That’s good. It hurts your
heart to think of someone you love going to hell. That’s how God feels and
that is why Jesus came and died for our sins. Let’s pray that God take all
of our sins out of our hearts.” And they all bowed their heads and prayed
and when they looked up, instead of tears, there were pretty smiles on all
their faces.
“But what about the candy bar, Mom?” Susan
wanted to know.
“Tell you what, Timmy. Let’s let the girls
get their sleepover going. You and I will run over to the mall, tell the man
what happened and you can pay for the candy bar with your allowance money and
everything will be right again.”
“Will it really
Mommy?” Timmy said with excitement “Will it make it like I never did
the bad thing.”
“It will be better than that because the man
will know you are an honest boy and he will trust you even more. Better than
that, while we are there, let’s get candy bars for all of us and we can
join the party, ok?”
HOORAY! All the children leapt with glee and
danced around hugging and kissing Mrs. Morris for being so wise.
The LORD said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do—when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. [Leviticus 6:1-5]
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