Introduction - Is anyone pure?
Charles Swindoll in "Growing Deep in the Christian Life," writes about a man who bought fried chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The attendant at the fast food outlet, however, inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day’s business - a bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken.
"After driving to their picnic site," Swindoll writes, "the two of them sat down to enjoy some chicken. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken - over $800 Now many people would have kept the money, and bought themselves a lunch much nicer than KFC
But this man did something unusual. He quickly put the money back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero.
"By then, the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, ’I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money here.’
"Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, ’Let me call the newspaper. I’m gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You’re one of the most honest men I’ve ever heard of.’
"To which the man quickly responded, ’Oh, no. No, no - don’t do that’ Then he leaned closer and whispered,
’You see, the woman I’m with is not my wife.”
Harder to find than lost cash is a perfect heart.
Now what do I mean by that? Being focused on the right thing can make the difference between life and death.