I’ve just re-read the story about a lady, who, when she was putting her groceries into the boot of her car discovered a greeting card she hadn’t paid for. She went back into the shop, waited in line at the till, apologised for the oversight, and paid for the card. The man behind her in the queue looked amazed and said, “It’s only a greeting card! Who would have known? Weren’t you a bit silly coming back?”
For a split second she did feel silly, but then these words came to mind: “Should you ever lose your wallet,” she replied smiling, “I’m sure you hope that someone silly like me finds it!”
This made me think about a time many (too many) years ago when my sister and I were in our early teens. We found a wallet which had been left in a public phone box. (One of the lovely bright red ones.) The police station was nearby so we left it there along with our details.
A couple of weeks later a gentleman called at our house. The wallet belonged to him and he was very pleased to get it back. He owned a drapery store and he gave both of us a voucher to use in the shop. I think it was worth £5 and in the 1960’s was quite a bit of money. Ina and I bought material with the vouchers and our mother made each of us lovely new dresses.
We both really appreciated our reward and wore our new dresses for ages, but we also appreciated that Honesty’s Reward is something money can’t buy—a Clear Conscience before God.