Continuing our series of how believers are supposed to live:

• Don’t lie – speak truth (verse 25)
• Don’t steal – give (verse 28)
• Don’t be hurtful – encourage (verse 29)
• Don’t be bitter – be kind (verses 31, 32)

Today we’re looking at verse 28 where we learn that the opposite of stealing isn’t not stealing: it’s giving!

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Ephesians 4.28, NKJV)

There are a lot of ways to steal: falsifying income tax returns or expense reports come to mind. But the text doesn’t let us off with stopping that kind of activity. We are encouraged to work so that we’ll have something to give.

John Ed Mathison wrote about this concept recently. Here’s his introduction, comparing giving and keeping to the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea:

“The greedy only wants to get, while the Godly only wants to give.”  (Proverbs 21:26) Jesus himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) This is demonstrated so clearly by two great bodies of water in Israel. I’ve visited there on several occasions and had the privilege of seeing first hand this principle.

One body of water is the Sea of Galilee. It’s very beautiful. Jesus spent much of his time teaching there. It has green foliage around the edges of the water. It is filled with fish. It has life. It depicts beauty and it pours itself out to fertilize the Jordan plain. It is always giving what it receives.

The other body of water is the Dead Sea. It’s dead because nothing lives around it or in it. It is so salty that you can literally wade out in the water and the saltiness will keep you afloat. I have done that!

The reason it’s dead is that it has no outlet. It keeps everything for itself. It is always getting and keeping, and that leads to death. – Dr. John Ed Mathison, June 23, 2021

I missed an opportunity a few years ago. I was in a hurry, but I made a “quick” stop at a grocery store to pick up a couple of things. I got into the Express line, but unfortunately, the lady in front of me was having trouble paying. She offered a credit card, which was declined. She tried to write a check, but it wouldn’t go through either. I was priding myself in not losing my temper and waiting patiently. (Remember, I was in a hurry.) Only after I got to my car did I think to myself, “You idiot! You should have just paid for the lady’s groceries.”

By contrast, I just read that Shaq O’Neal, the retired basketball superstar bought a couple of computers for a mother who couldn’t afford them.

So we shouldn’t say that God’s expectations are too high, that it’s unreasonable to have our antenna up to give rather than take. Sure, Shaq is wealthy, but so are many of us, compared to the vast majority of people in the world. And bless Shaq for managing his money – many superstar athletes (and others of us, too!) squander theirs.

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow… (Deuteronomy 24.19, ESV)

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15.11, ESV)

And [Jesus] said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. (Mark 3.4, ESV, no middle ground)