By Theodore Epp

      Romans 2:17-29

      We need to ask ourselves if our lives are good illustrations of what we teach.

      We teach that people should not steal, but do we steal? We may never rob banks, but are we guilty of withholding money that rightfully belongs to others? Are we totally honest in preparing our income tax returns?

      And stealing involves more than just money--it can also involve time. Are we stealing God's time by doing things with our schedules and energies that God never intended?

      Are we placing God first in our lives, not only concerning our finances but also concerning our time? Or do we give God only the finances and the time that are left over?

      We should never think that once we have given some money and time to the Lord that the rest is ours to do with as we please. All that we have belongs to God, so He should be taken into consideration in everything we do.

      Each of us needs to come to God with an open heart and ask Him to do what David asked of Him: "Search me, 0 God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23,24).

      God has given believers the responsibility of spreading the Gospel to all the world, and we need to use all at our disposal to accomplish this task. How serious it will be if, when we stand before the Lord, we must admit that we did far less than we could have.

      "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).