We steal because we think we don’t have something we need or should have. We don’t have enough money, the right kind of electronic device or blouse, our favorite candy. We steal because we believe good things are scarce.
Sometimes we steal intangible things. Our co-worker or friend has more respect than we have, more honor than we think he deserves. So we gossip and slander to strip away his glory. When we steal intangibles, it is still because we believe things are scarce.
Our perception that things are scarce is unbelief. It is a denial of the gospel . . .
for the gospel announces: “All things are yours. Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present or things to come – all are yours. And you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” When we steal, we are ungrateful to Jesus, who invites us, “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”
Stealing is a denial of Easter. Jesus’ Father gives all things into His hands. And then His Father gives Him to us in the Spirit. If we have Jesus, we already have all we could ever need or want. Having Jesus, we have more wealth than we can ask or imagine. Because He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
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If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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