An "Honest" Thief
Many years ago, a fairly wealthy man gave me an expensive designer wallet as a gift of appreciation. It lasted for years, but eventually went the way of all wallets; it began to come apart. Knowing how much I liked that wallet, my wife gave me one like it as an anniversary gift.
I had only had the new wallet for about six months. Last Saturday, dressed in a pair of shorts with a very shallow rear pocket, I went to Staples to purchase paper for my printer. Apparently, after I paid for the supplies with a credit card from my wallet, I did not put it firmly in that shallow pocket. It probably fell out in the parking lot of Staples. At any rate, a short time later I discovered it was missing. I returned to Staples only to discover that no one had returned my wallet. I immediately cancelled the credit cards and grieved the loss.
Yesterday, when I returned home from church, I found an envelop with the contents of my wallet in it! Someone, had gone to the trouble of copying my address from my driver’s licenses, taping it to the front of the envelop, wrapping the contents of the wallet in a plain white piece of 8½ x 11 paper, putting it in an envelop, and bring it to my house. All that was missing was the expensive wallet and a spare 20-dollar bill I carry in my wallet (my spendable money is always in a money clip, which I always keep in my front pocket). Unbelievable!
Frankly, I appreciated it. Whoever did that, obviously did not have to do it and it saved me a lot of time today (Monday) in that I did not have to take the time to replace, my drivers license, car insurance card, health insurance card, etc.
I immediately, thanked the Lord. This may sound silly to some, but I had asked Abba, if He would be so kind as to see to it that the stuff was returned. He at least answered most of the prayer.
Now, may I ask a question? Assuming that the one who returned the contents of the wallet, minus the money, was the thief, what was he (or she) thinking? I can only imagine. Let me speculate. Could that individual have thought, “I an honest person. I will return the contents of the wallet and keep the money and the wallet as a small token for my trouble. The owner will be glad to get the contents back and would probably give me a reward for finding the wallet, anyway.” Such self-justification would, no doubt, make the thief feel better, well, at least, not as bad and maybe even feel a little honest.
We all rationalize our sin, don’t we? The problem, of course, is that in the final analysis, “the judgment of God is according to truth” (Rom. 2:2), not according to what we think or feel. Moreover, even when we think we are justified, that does not mean we are (1 Cor. 4:3-5). So, we need to beware of the self-justification of our sin.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 7/8/2002
I had only had the new wallet for about six months. Last Saturday, dressed in a pair of shorts with a very shallow rear pocket, I went to Staples to purchase paper for my printer. Apparently, after I paid for the supplies with a credit card from my wallet, I did not put it firmly in that shallow pocket. It probably fell out in the parking lot of Staples. At any rate, a short time later I discovered it was missing. I returned to Staples only to discover that no one had returned my wallet. I immediately cancelled the credit cards and grieved the loss.
Yesterday, when I returned home from church, I found an envelop with the contents of my wallet in it! Someone, had gone to the trouble of copying my address from my driver’s licenses, taping it to the front of the envelop, wrapping the contents of the wallet in a plain white piece of 8½ x 11 paper, putting it in an envelop, and bring it to my house. All that was missing was the expensive wallet and a spare 20-dollar bill I carry in my wallet (my spendable money is always in a money clip, which I always keep in my front pocket). Unbelievable!
Frankly, I appreciated it. Whoever did that, obviously did not have to do it and it saved me a lot of time today (Monday) in that I did not have to take the time to replace, my drivers license, car insurance card, health insurance card, etc.
I immediately, thanked the Lord. This may sound silly to some, but I had asked Abba, if He would be so kind as to see to it that the stuff was returned. He at least answered most of the prayer.
Now, may I ask a question? Assuming that the one who returned the contents of the wallet, minus the money, was the thief, what was he (or she) thinking? I can only imagine. Let me speculate. Could that individual have thought, “I an honest person. I will return the contents of the wallet and keep the money and the wallet as a small token for my trouble. The owner will be glad to get the contents back and would probably give me a reward for finding the wallet, anyway.” Such self-justification would, no doubt, make the thief feel better, well, at least, not as bad and maybe even feel a little honest.
We all rationalize our sin, don’t we? The problem, of course, is that in the final analysis, “the judgment of God is according to truth” (Rom. 2:2), not according to what we think or feel. Moreover, even when we think we are justified, that does not mean we are (1 Cor. 4:3-5). So, we need to beware of the self-justification of our sin.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 7/8/2002