Reading for Today:
Proverb Chapter 25
Gold Nugget
Verse 8: “Do not go hastily to
court; for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor has put you to
shame?”
Commentary
One year after Christmas, my daughter wanted to make a
purchase online, but couldn’t with one of her gift cards. She asked me to make
the purchase of $100.00 online with my credit card and she would give me the
$100.00 gift card. A few days after purchasing her item online, I went to
Wal-Mart and decided to use my $100.00 gift card to purchase about $50 dollars’
worth of items. I was disturbed to find that the card was declined. Later, I
tried again to make another purchase elsewhere, hoping that Wal-Mart was having
an issue that day. Again, card declined. Finally, I called the 1-800 number on
the back of the card and found it had a balance of thirty-something dollars. At
that point I told my daughter that in her Christmas spending frenzy, she must
have swiped it somewhere and forgot. She insisted she hadn’t, but I knew
better. Although she thought she was correct, a 14 year old girl and a gift
card do not always provide the best mixture for wise decisions and financial
accountability. Being judge and jury, I sentenced her to several free house
cleanings for the sixty-something dollar balance. She insisted that she would
go online and find what had gone wrong. I knew if she actually went online and
looked at the transaction history, she would be reminded of her purchase. A few
weeks went by and I got a phone call from her letting me know that she had
looked online and found that someone had evidentially spent sixty-something
dollars at Academy. I challenged her to remember what she bought from Academy,
but she insisted she never spent a dime there. After getting off the phone, I
wondered how she could forget spending sixty-something dollars at Academy…
sixty-something dollars at Academy… sixty-something
dollars at Academy… uh, oh. Oh, my… sixty-something dollars is how much I
spent on a paintball mask… at… Academy! All of a sudden, I remembered standing
in line at Academy. It was clear… crystal clear. A week after Christmas,
Academy’s computers were down and wouldn’t take regular credit cards. I was
fortunate to be able to make my purchase though, because I had … a $100.00 gift
card… Oh, yes. I remember it clearly now. Then I was faced with the
embarrassing task of admitting I was wrong and had falsely accused her. There
aren’t many situations that will cause more shame and embarrassment than when
we falsely accuse someone. Unfortunately, I didn’t exercise the wisdom in
today’s “gold nugget” that says, “Do not go hastily to
court; for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor has put you to
shame?”
Prayer
Lord, sometimes we are so convinced of our position
and innocence that we will not truly consider someone else’s innocence. Help us
to be more honest with ourselves and consider that we could possibly be at
fault. Amen
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