Caught Stealing

This post is to the person who Googled this search string: "i shoplifted from a store two month ago and did not get caught can i still get caught".

Let me clear up one thing...why did this search string fetched a page from the Sisters' Weblog? From this post, the 7th layer.

Ok, now Mr. or Ms. Shoplifter, to answer your question, "can I still get caught?"

It depends on what you mean by caught.

Chances are pretty slim that law enforcement or loss prevention will find you and track you down. Of course, I don't know the background to your story, and it is quite possible your act was caught on camera or something. Still, you most likely will not be caught by humans two months after the fact.

Now, obviously, because you are Googling this particular search string, you must be feeling a bit uncomfortable. Is your conscience bothering you? Are you scared? Feeling guilty?

You are feeling guilty because you are.

It will continue to eat at you. Haunt you maybe.

In time, you may not think about the fact that you are a thief every minute of the day, days may go by before you are reminded. At some point, even months will go by, but every now and then, something will remind you of your actions that day. You will remember that specific act of stealing and how wrong it was, and how wrong you know it was.

I wonder, was it out of character for you?

Regardless, you are already caught. God in heaven watched it all. He was over you the moment the thought to steal popped into your head. He was there when evil consumed your heart in that moment. He knew what you would decide to do before you chose to act.

And He loves you still.

He gave you that conscience that is telling you what a thief you are. He gave you the inate ability to determine right from wrong. He gave you free will to choose to do right, as well as do wrong. He allows you to experience the consequences of doing right, and allow you to suffer the consequences of doing wrong. Be careful, there is a bigger thief out there. He is the father of lies, and sometimes he will manipulate you into believing that there are no consequences for doing wrong, because, sometimes at first, you don't get caught.

You don't get caught so you try again. And again. And again. But, eventually, the consequences do come. They always do. Can you think of an example when consequences for choosing to do evil didn't eventually come?

Now, a life fearing consequences is not a free life. It is life in the dark. It is hiding in the shadows. It is no life at all. God gave you a life to live to it's fullest potential! Don't throw it away!

Confess what you have done. Make amends. Ask forgiveness. A life in forgiveness is a free life. It is life in the light. It is a wonderful life! It is the life God wants you to enjoy!

God so much wants you to enjoy a life of freedom from the bondage of guilt and shame, that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to live among us and experience the pain of death, of total darkness, caused by human sin. Jesus took your sin, which covers even shoplifting, onto Himself and then it died with him on the cross at Calvary. Confess your sin to Him and He is faithful and just to forgive you.

You were caught. You may as well admit it and tell Him.

If you don't, you can NEVER have a relationship with God. Ever. You see, your sin keeps you seperated from Him. FOREVER. You might not think that is any big deal right now, but someday...maybe tomorrow, next year, or in eighty years, you'll be thinking about what is to come of your soul after you die.

It's heaven or hell.

Eternity with the God who loves you, or eternity in complete loneliness and you will feel no love at all. Do you joke that you'll be with your friends in hell? There are no friends in hell. It will be dark. Lonely. You will thirst and not be able to drink. You will live with regret forever. There will be no escape.

So, are you thinking that in the grand scheme of things shoplifting isn't that bad? It's not like you flew planes into tall buildings, or killed thousands with a well planted bomb, or gassed millions of people in chambers or anything that dastardly, right?

Well, are you really a good person despite that one little mistake? That one bad choice? Are you a good person?

Let's go back to the original question, "can I still get caught?".

You were caught. You will suffer consequences. The good news is, you can decide right now if those consequences will be eternal or not.