Did you ever dream of finding a pot of gold? Maybe it was some other form of treasure...buried or otherwise. I recently heard a true story of one who found one.
His occupation takes him crawling through roof rafters and under houses. He often finds himself shimmying around stuff that's been stored for years, in order to do his electrical work. He confessed with a chuckle that for many years he's been on the watch for something worth a lot of money, but never had found one.
Then, while working to update a 40 year old home, an empty house inherited by the owner's brothers, his dream come true! He had to move a suitcase from his path in the attic, and when he tried to do so, struggle as he might, he found it too heavy to move it. Curious as to what might be inside, with some trepidation, he clicked the latch and lifted the lid. What did he find?
An incredible stash of rolled silver dollars and hundred dollar gold pieces!
Now, because my friend is an extremely moral and Christian man, he would never have thought to remove even one coin from that satchel. What he did was to report his find to the three brothers when they arrived that afternoon. They didn't believe him until they went to the attic and looked at the find with their own eyes. They'd known that their deceased brother was a thrifty man, but had no idea that he would have stashed such a fortune as that in his attic! Of course, they were thrilled.
They made a comment to my friend that he must be a very honest man, because he 'could have put that money in the truck and driven away, and no one would have been the wiser.' It would have never have crossed his mind to do such a thing, but the comment made my friend think about what sort of person might do that. As he boarded his truck the next day, he noticed a folded bill sticking out of a compartment. It was a one hundred dollar bill, which he immediately deduced had come from the heirs. They were, he thought, rewarding him.
When he found the money in his truck, he was accompanied by his grandson. He held it up and showed it to the younger man. He asked, "Do you know what this is? It is those guys' money, and it's going right back to them. You don't need to be rewarded for doing what is right."
I understand his point,and of course, he must follow his convictions, but I wonder if he's correct in that thinking. We should always do the right thing, and if we receive a reward, what is wrong with that if we're not looking for the reward? After all, we are in line for some punishment if we do the wrong thing, aren't we? Even God gives reward for doing the right things and gives the evil doers what they deserve. Isn't that what justice is about?
What are your thoughts about this?
