|
Hooked!
Between
June 2002 and November 2005, Annie Donnelly of
Farmingville
,
NY
, embezzled more then $2.3 million from her employer,
Great South Bay
Surgical Associates.
According to Associated Press writer, Frank
Eltman, Donnelly wrote company checks in varying
amounts for cash or payable to herself and falsely
accounted them as payments to vendors associated with
the medical office.
What
did she do with the money? She
gambled it!
Donnelly
spent as much as $6,000 a day playing the lottery.
“She obviously had a gambling problem,”
said Donna Planty, assistant district attorney.
“She appeared
to be caught up in the high of winning."
Donnelly,
desiring to win big, ended up losing big!
She broke the law, and she will have to suffer
the consequences.
Investigators believe Donnelly may have won
lottery jackpots of $5,000 or even $25,000, but not
enough to repay the money she has stolen – a debt
which she will ultimately have to repay.
She also faces four to 12 years in prison
for her theft.
Donnelly’s
problem describes a problem ALL of us have: the
problem of SIN.
Sin claims to offer pleasure and excitement
(and it may – for a while; cf. Hebrews 11:25).
But when we engage in sin, in the end, we lose.
We lose our dignity, our freedom, and our hope.
A wise person has observed: “Sin will take
you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than
you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to
pay.”
Similar
to the imagery of using "bait" to
catch a fish, James describes how we are tempted to
sin: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn
away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth
to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth
death” (James 1:14-15).
The process begins with our own desires, and if
we “take the bait,” we are “hooked,”
and on our way to destruction!
But
through Christ, we may be set free from the "trap"
of sin. He
died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, and
to set us free from its power over our lives.
When we believe
in Him and trust Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our
sins in repentance
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38; 22:16), our sins
are washed away. We
are no longer under its bondage and condemnation.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Then if we will CONTINUE to strive in walk in
faithful obedience to Him, then He will CONTINUE to
cleanse us from our sins (1 John 1:7-9).
Each
of us has been “hooked” by sin - and when we "gamble"
with our soul….we lose!
ONLY
Christ can set us free – and He will, if we will
trust and obey Him.
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*“Woman Steals $2.3
Million to Gamble,” by Frank Eltman, Associated Press Writer http://www.comcast.net/news
To
Subscribe to "Living Water"
send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net
TEXT version: subscribe-livingwater-text@lyris.dundee.net
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com
Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website
at: www.creekwoodcc.org
|
