“Thou shall not steal.”
This is the eighth of God’s ten commandments, something we could easily remember. It is one of the basic, most common rules regardless of religion. Since we were kids, we learned that it is not good to get something that is not ours.
But as we grew older, it became more challenging to obey God’s commandments. We face different and complex scenarios wherein we get to question what we knew back then and how it would make sense in our current situation.
And following the rules could sometimes be difficult; nothing is more challenging than giving judgment to those who disobey them.
The Air Blower Burglar
It was midday on a Sunday when a dark SUV pulled up in front of Jennifer Collier’s home in Independence, Missouri. He ran up the driveway and went straight into the garage. Moments later, he emerged to the driveway with two leaf blowers in tow before he drove off.
It wasn’t only the Collier’s security camera that caught the incident, but their neighbor’s cam, too. In their footage, they saw that the truck was sitting upfront. The burglar was probably there waiting for the opportunity to strike.
What he took was still a mystery.
“’Why a leaf blower?’ was my first thought. There’s so much more he could’ve taken that was far more valuable,” Jennifer told FOX News.
She said that there were so many things around their garage. It was wide open, after all. She said that even her purse was there on display, but the burglar never went for it. It still was a mystery why a man would steal two leaf blowers.
Not an isolated case.
Jennifer posted the footage caught by their surveillance camera on a homeowners’ group. This gained the attention of many other victims who came forward and shared their experiences.
One homeowner shared screenshots of a burglary incident by that same person, although he used another vehicle.
Teachings from the Bible
Jennifer recalled what the Bible taught her during this challenging situation. Although the Bible said, “Thou shall not steal,” as the burglar should have done. However, she recalled something far more important.
She remembered, “love thy neighbor as yourself.”
“That’s what I want to do. I want to love him, and I want to forgive him,” she said. With those in mind, Jennifer wanted to give something to the burglar if he would come to return the leaf blowers.
Leaving a gift to the thief
Jennifer left something on her front porch steps waiting for a day when the man would come to return the leaf blowers or attempt to steal something from their home again. She placed a Bible in a ziplock bag for him.
“We are disciples, so we want to show him what that looks like,” she said. Jennifer added that she wanted to invite the man into their home to talk and assure him that she wouldn’t call the police just in case.
The police are still investigating if all the homeowners’ reported incidents were related to Jennifer’s case. However, she had already decided that she wouldn’t press any charges if their garden equipment were returned.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
