A Polite Robber and Our Own Walk of Faith

Last month, a convenience store owner in the Seattle area was held up at gun point. The armed robber got away with about $300 in cash. No one would have paid much attention to the incident .... except for one thing. The robber was very polite in the perpetration of his crime. Here is a brief video that shows just how polite this guy was.


A verse from Proverbs came to my mind when I viewed this video. In it the robber claimed his motivation in committing the crime was to feed his children. Proverbs 30:8-9 reads, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." 

The polite bandit fell prey to his circumstance of need. Seeing no other alternative, he resorted to stealing to provide for his family. Certainly understandable ... but still wrong. But I want you to focus on the other side of the coin. Most of you who are reading this blog are probably not in the same desperate situation in which this man found himself. But I am guessing that many of you (me included) are doing OK (especially when compared to the majority of people in our world). Therefore, we must beware of the influence that material goods and possessions can have upon us. If we are not careful, they can cause us to lose sight of God. All of us would benefit from reading and reflecting on the warning of Jesus given in Luke 12:15 and Paul's comments about money and the stuff money buys given in 1 Timothy 6:6-10.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj