Truth

We come again to a lesson on greed.

This greed speaks directly to those who cheat others in order to get more money for themselves.

They long for the Sabbath to be over; and the festivals so they can set up their market stalls and they can lie and cheat and make money.

You have probably heard, as I have, of those unscrupulous people who will fix their scales when measuring meat or vegetables.

People who don’t cool their gas pumps so that the gasoline will swell in the heat and you will pay more for less gas.

These are just like those of old.

I heard recently of a company that knew it had contaminated product but sold it anyway.

We expect gambling casinos to make sure the odds are in their favor and machines don’t pay out anywhere near what they bring in, but we expect honesty when we buy a pound of meat or a quart of milk.

And others expect it from us.

Before it wasn’t possible, or at least it wasn’t for the average person, people would set the odometer on their cars back to lower the mileage and get more money when they sell it.

People would sell homes that they knew had mold or asbestos or other issues without disclosing them.

When someone buys stolen goods, or what are called “knock-offs,” they are encouraging others to steal and cheat.

If we willingly contribute to sin, we sin.

It may be tempting to buy these because they cost less than what we would pay legally, but it’s theft.

To download music or videos that are copyrighted and then copy them and share them is theft.

Thieves won’t steal if they can’t make money from people willing to buy.

The thieves of yesterday are the same as today.

And we need to make sure that we do not contribute to the dishonesty of others, or act in dishonest ways ourselves.