Carried Away

We are accustomed to homes and businesses outfitted with motion sensors, locks, and surveillance cameras.  But in a nomadic, desert culture it is tough to lock the tent.  There is no real security where there is no trust.  With the eighth commandment God taught His people that they should respect one another’s property by not stealing it, or literally translated, carrying it away.  Just in case anyone felt the urge to steal, commandment eight reminded them that God was watching.

Cameras, locks, and alarms are not only a testimony that we no longer trust one another, but it is evidence that as a culture we have lost the sense of the watchful eye of a holy God.  He is not pleased when we steal.  Because we have exiled God from the public forum, security is big business.  When we do not trust one another we all pay the price.  The products we buy carry a security markup because they stand a good chance of being carried away. 

Without a return to the core values of morality based in the authority of God, we will continue to lose a sense of social trust.  Every generation raised without God consciousness becomes more covetous, selfish, and even savvier version of the thief.  The cost of security is on the rise.  Whether it is the old fashioned smash and grab or the high tech stealth of identity theft, the problem is not that we are losing stuff and money.  We have lost our souls.  The cameras in the corner stand as evidence against us.  Our souls have been carried away, we are no longer trustworthy.

God created the world and He gave man the right to borrow and use bits and pieces of it for life.  We should be able to do so without zipping the tent.  God gave us a fundamental right to property, and in doing so a reason to trust our neighbor.  But God is gone and we are carried away.