Stolen Goods

This afternoon, while in the process of carrying out a regular duty of mine, I absent-mindedly exhibited a most uncharacteristic behaviour.

The scene: A local pharmacy.
The regular duty: Filling a prescription for my wife.
The uncharacteristic behaviour: I left the shop with goods and realized a little later on that I had failed to pay for them.
The response: I took my wife back to the pharmacy, admitted the error of my ways and then paid up for the 'stolen goods'.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't picked up as I left the store. In fact, it wasn't until I ventured back some 20mins later with a rather heavy conscience to the cashier that they even realized that I had left without making payment.

While I could try to rationalize why I did this from many logical perspectives, the fact remains that I was the one at fault all along. The pharmacy staff could have rightly hurled me over the coals and made me face up to the consequences of my actions. However, they chose to reward me by thanking me for my honesty in coming forward to return to them what was rightly theirs ~ the $5!

Grace is a powerful tool ~ especially when we it is undeserved. It was truly an unplanned reminder to me of the unmerited faviour of God and how truly blessed we are to experience it!

Exodus 22:3 (NIV) ~ "A thief must make full restitution for what is stolen."