Biblically Speaking

His Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways
 
By Joe Graber
 
My credit card (or at least the number) was stolen (I found out last night).  This is the second time this has happened.  The first was several years ago, and it was a great example of how God's ways are higher than our ways.
 
According to the Godless men's ways, what happens when a thief is caught?  He is tried and sentenced to jail time if convicted.  What justice!  I, the victim, get to pay to have the criminal housed, fed, taught, groomed, and made fit in the prison gym.  Not only do I get violated by the crime, but I also get violated by having to support the criminal.  What a curse we bring upon ourselves when we toss aside the Bible and its clear instruction.
 
Prins, the Belgian, at the Paris Prison Congress of 1895 sarcastically summed up what we face today when he bitterly said:
 
"The guilty man, lodged, fed, clothed, warmed, lighted, entertained, at the expense of the State in a model cell, issued from it with a sum of money lawfully earned, has paid his debt to society; he can set his victims at defiance; but the victim has his consolation; he can think that by taxes he pays to the Treasury, he has contributed towards the paternal care, which has guarded the criminal during his stay in prison."
 
We lay aside the scriptures and are cursed doubly.  We are set upon by thieves, and then we are set upon again by thieves.
 
When my credit card was stolen last time, I tracked the thief down.  After the authorities arrested him and he went to trial, I received a letter from the judge asking for my input as to the punishment.  This is the point at which we stand on scripture.  I wrote back that as a Christian I believe that God's revelation of Himself to us in scripture gives us the best guide on punishing criminals. 
 
Exodus 22:7 tells us that if a man leaves his goods with another person and a thief breaks in and steals them then the thief must repay twice what he stole.  I asked the judge to have the man repay twice what he stole.  A few weeks later I received payment.  What a system.  The fine or restitution went to me the victim (not the State).  The man didn't steal from me again by burdening me and the rest of society with his paternal care in jail. 
 
How are we to approach life as Christians?  Do justly and love mercy...walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).  When we toss aside Biblical guides for justice, are we doing justly?  When we steal from the victims to give more to the criminals, do we love mercy?  When we decide we know better than God, are we walking humbly with out God?
 
The Bible is authoritative on every situation to which it speaks, and the Bible speaks to every situation.