thou shalt not steal.

this story I am about to share has just in the last few days started to become funny.

trust me.

the day was not funny.

our sweet girl a few weeks ago stole a sucker.

from the Family Christian book store.

not only did she steal the sucker.

she told a couple good lies to cover it up.

i of course did not buy either of them.

we don't have suckers with bible verses on them in our pantry.

she of course had to go back to the store with her half eaten sucker.

i made it very clear she was going to take the responsibility.

i was not going to tell her what to say.

she walked up to the counter with her own money in hand.

"umm, i took this sucker from your store, i'm very sorry, will you please forgive me"

the lady behind the counter was of course gracious.

she extended forgiveness and went on to tell Ri that she did a very brave thing.

admitting when we do wrong is the hard part.

she donated a $5 teddy bear to an orphan and added a little note with it to send.

to say i was disappointed was an understatement.

here's the hard part.

i now have a relationship with Jesus.

i have learned that through this relationship he will speak to you.

that day the holy spirit showed up and it was pretty clear.

here is the gist of what he shared.

she is no different than you.

really the only thing that separates the two of you is that you have the money to buy that sucker.

according to the world that is enough.

but you should not be living according to the worlds standards.

you should be living according to mine.

how often do you justify purchases because you have money in the bank--

when i have told you to feed those who have no food.

to clothe the poor.

how long did you justify tithing only 3% of what i have given to you---

when my word clearly states 10%.

you are no different from her.

you are stealing from my kingdom.

my heart ached.

it's no wonder Jesus refers to us as children.

much like my child i asked for forgiveness.

i am quickly becoming grossly aware that He has the same expectations of me-

 that I have of my own kids.

single-minded obedience.

a quick yes sir followed by an action.

the truth is Jesus is not complicated.

he extends oceans of grace for the sinful human heart.

he forgave me because he knows.

his only expectation is that i search for him in the mess of life.

and be obedient to his word.

literally.