Identity theft... What would Jesus say?

Identity theft... What would Jesus say? Matthew 16:24

Patricia Ann, Originally posted on Friday, May 04, 2012

Identity theft.  What would Jesus say?
 
Matthew 16:24 
Then Jesus said to His disciples, " If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up the cross and follow Me." 
 
I have a friend who recently was the victim of identity theft. 
Identity theft is terrible, leaving a person feeling personally violated and many times financially drained. 

We live in a world where people freely put their personal information online. 
They post pictures of themselves and family as well as names, phone numbers and addresses. 
They link up with friends and friends of friends, and depending on how safe a person chooses to be with their information, total strangers can have a lot of information at their fingertips. 
 
There are many people in the world seeking to be seen. 
They are lonely so they go online and search for someone to share with. 
That's when problems happen. 
That is when people become victims of identity theft.
 
Just as there is a world full of lonely people, there is also a great number of stalkers, people who are searching for those trusting lonely individuals who are vulnerable enough to share almost any aspect of their life.
 
But did you know that there is One who is there for every lonely person in the world and He already knows every bit of personal information about us? 
And even better, that He can be totally trusted and would never seek to steal from us or hurt us in any way? 
 
He doesn't even care if we steal His identity! In fact, He desires for us to become more like Him. 
How awesome is that? 
 
His Name is Jesus and He loves each and every one of us. 
He loves the sad, the lonely, the seekers, the victims and yes, He even loves those who are seeking to destroy people by stealing their identities.
 
If the thieves - those who are stealing the lives of innocent people, would find the Facebook or Myspace page of

Jesus Christ and seek to become like Him, they would surely experience a renewed and simplified life. 
 
As Jesus said to His disciples: "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up the cross

and follow me." Matthew 16:24
 
What a great and terrific God we have! 
He loves us so much that He wrote the Bible for us to live by. 
It is filled with Scripture for almost any circumstance that we encounter as we live our lives in this world. 
 
In Matthew 16:24, we see that this Scripture applies to identity theft and life today. 
 
In  Revelation 3:20, we see Jesus standing and knocking at the door of our heart. 
He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and sup with him and he with Me. " 
 
Jesus happily seeks a relationship with us. 
He stands waiting  for each of us. Regardless of the path we take to find Him, His arms will openly accept us into His gracious and forgiving presence.
 
My prayer for today is that we take the time to notice those who are searching and that we take the time to listen, hear and acknowledge them.
 
Even if they are seeking to become us through identity theft or impersonation, let us take the time to forgive.
Let us stop and pray and hope that they will find the One they are truly seeking - Jesus, Our one and only Lord and Savior.
 
Jesus is the only One I know who doesn't mind sharing His own likeness with all of God's children.
 
Blessings to you in Jesus name, Amen.