Too Much Money

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:24-28

Ambrose’s eyes widened as he glanced at the change the clerk had given him and then at the ten-dollar bill she was placing into the cash drawer. He quickly stuffed the money into his pocket, picked up the candy bar he had bought, and hurried out the door.

Wow! thought Ambrose. She must have been daydreaming or something. She gave me change for a twenty-dollar bill and didn’t even notice it was a ten-dollar bill she was putting away. Now I have enough to buy that skateboard I want.

When Ambrose arrived home, he put the extra ten dollars in his desk drawer with the rest of his money. But he didn’t feel comfortable all evening. He couldn’t shut out the voice in his head. Over and over it said, That was stealing. Take it back!

When Ambrose entered his classroom the next day, he overheard a classmate talking to her friends. “I can’t get a drama club T-shirt because my dad’s out of work,” Shelby said. “My sister planned to buy it for me. But at her job yesterday, her cash register was ten dollars short, so she had to pay it.”

Ambrose felt like his heart almost stopped. It was Shelby’s sister who had given him too much money. It’s not my fault, he tried to tell himself. It’s not like I took it. She gave it to me. But he knew that by keeping money that didn’t belong to him, he was stealing just as if he’d gone into the store and taken it out of the register himself.

As he glanced at Shelby, Ambrose realized that any time something was stolen, someone had to pay. If I keep the money, Shelby and her sister are the ones who will pay for it, he thought. That’s not how I’m supposed to treat others as a Christian. Jesus sacrificed His life to pay for my sins, and He says to love others the way He does. That means doing what’s right.

Ambrose had planned to ask his mom to take him to the sporting goods store after school, but instead he went to the grocery store to return the ten dollars to Shelby’s sister. Then he went home with a smile instead of a skateboard.

-Barbara J. Westberg

How About You?

Are you careful to do what’s right? Even when it’s not easy? It wasn’t easy for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, but He did it because He loves us. If you know Him as your Savior, He’s given you the ability to obey Him and show His love to others. Trust Him to help you do the right thing and put others before yourself so they can see that you’re honest and trustworthy like He is.

Today’s Key Verse:
2 Corinthians 8:21 Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord but also before people. (CSB)

Today’s Key Thought:

Do the right thing