Honesty is all-important. “Thou shalt not steal” is one of God’s
commandments. When you were in slavery you may have thought that you
had a right to take from your master what you could get hold of, and
hesitated only from the fear of being found out. Even some slaves who
call themselves pious, have thought it was not wrong to take from the
master’s crib whatever they could lay their hands upon. But if they
had read the Bible, they would have seen how wrong it was. The apostle
Paul, writing to the bondmen in his day, says they must “not purloin;”
which means, they must not steal even a little thing from their
masters, nor from anybody else.
If then any of you have fallen into this wicked habit, stop it at once.
Besides, if you steal, the law will seize upon you, and you may have to
go to prison, or suffer some worse punishment. You are _now_ under law,
and must be an honest keeper of the law.