Devotionals

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If you don’t give me an opportunity to steal, how will you know that I am not a thief?

Some people are not thieves not because they are not thieves but because they haven’t had the opportunity or pressure to do so.

Trust must be earned. No problem. But benevolence dictates that you give a benefit of doubt to someone who is yet to prove his dignity. This is why it is not good to treat people who you don’t know with suspicion even before they behave themselves suspicious. If he doesn’t have a halo over his head or appear in sparkling light, an angel can appear as a normal human being—only a stranger. If we don’t give him a chance, we might easily have nothing to do with a messenger that was probably bringing us good news.

There is what I call ‘goodwill trust’. This trust is not based on merit. It is provisional pending approval through merit. This is where if one is a thief (for example), he will get an opportunity to prove that he is one. He will betray the provisional trust and the evidence of his thieving will confirm it. On the other hand, if one is not a thief, he will not take advantage of the opportunity to steal or make excuses of the pressure for doing it. The result of the opportunity and pressure will either make you promote ‘provisional trust’ into ‘merited trust’ or withdraw the trust altogether.

In one way or the other, God will always give us, if not allow us, an opportunity or pressure to prove what we are. If a ‘clean’ water in a glass remains clean after stirring, then it is clean, otherwise stirring will make the residues that were settled at the bottom begin to fly around.

Is it any wonder therefore that Jesus called Judas Iscariot to be one of His 12 disciples. He knew that this man was going to betray Him but he allowed the evidence to come forth. Another thing about Judas is even more interesting. Why did Jesus allow Judas Iscariot to be the treasurer in His ministry? The Bible says that Judas was a thief and he used to “help himself” from the treasury—see John 12:6 NIV. Christ decided to give him an opportunity to prove that he was actually a thief.

If you get an opportunity and/or pressure to steal but refuse to steal then you are not a thief; if you get a good reason to hate but you refuse to hate then you are not a hater; if you get an offer, reason and opportunity to be unfaithful but you decline the offer, then you are faithful.

The Bible says that things that cause people to stumble must come (Matt. 18:7 NIV). What will you do when they come? Have you been tested? The latter question is the heading of chapter 17 in “Virtue That Counts”. You will be tested for generosity not when you have mega resources but when you have meagre supplies. This is why the apostle Paul pays tribute to the Macedonian churches:

“Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality”
(2 Cor. 8:1-2 KJV).

“Wherever the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved”—Martin Luther.

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