“This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.”
–Matthew 15:8
I heard a story about a couple who were on a date at a restaurant. The two were finished eating so the man asked for the waiter to bring him a to-go box. This was a nicer place, so the waiter took the food back and boxed it for him. He put the box of food in a paper bag and rushed out to give it to the man.
On the way home, the woman happened to peek in the bag and gasped. Instead of a to-go box, she counted nearly $2,000 in cash! Apparently, the manager had a bag of petty cash sitting around, and the waiter, in a rush, accidentally grabbed it instead of the to-go box.
So the two turned around and headed straight back to the restaurant. When the man ran in and gave the money back, the ecstatic manager told him, “I’m going to call the newspaper and let them know you’re the most honest man in town!”
The man looked at the manager and said, “No, no, no. You see, I’m married… and the woman I’m with isn’t my wife.”
Sometimes, what people seem to be on the outside isn’t who they are on the inside. In fact, to find someone who is honest through-and-through is a rarity these days. So in a world full of people who are consistently inconsistent with their morals and values, be the exception!
REPRESENT CHRIST WELL BY BEING CONSISTENT IN YOUR VALUES, WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCE.