1 May, 2008
Finders...Keepers?
Boy Scout finds $800 in wallet and promptly returns it
DORR, Mich.—When an 11-year-old Boy Scout found some one's wallet with $800 inside, he understood what the person who lost it was going through.
Only a few weeks before, he had lost his own wallet and the $45 it contained.
J.R. Bouterse immediately told an adult about his discovery, which was turned over to a law-enforcement official and returned to its grateful owner.
"We're just so proud of him," said the boy's mother, Michelle Bouterse, 41. "We can't say enough."
To reward the boy, the Michigan State Police threw a pizza party Monday night, not only for the law-abiding child but for all 30 Scouts in Troop 90.
Another guest at the party, to J.R.'s surprise, was 20-year-old Jessica Cutler, the wallet's owner, who wanted to personally thank him for his act of honesty.
"I can't believe someone would find a wallet with that much money in it and not take some," she said. "A lot of people maybe wouldn't have done that same thing. I'm just glad he found it and not someone else."
J.R. found the wallet a little more than a week ago while leaving a Scout meeting at the church.
"I knew exactly how she felt," he said.
Not exactly: His own wallet has not been returned to him.
photo courtesy images.google.com & story twincities.com, 4/30/08
James 4:17
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)
What's the flip side of sin that we learn in today's God's Story scripture?
Usually we think of sin of doing something that is wrong. But James teaches us that knowing the right thing to do and then not doing it - it's sin! Sometimes these two kinds of sin are called sins of commission and sins of omission.
Let's be honest. What would you have done if you were the boy who found the wallet with $800 in it? Especially after you lost yours and no one returned it?
After all, couldn't we just think of it as "finders keepers"? The Boy Scout did the right thing! If he had not, according to James 4:17, he would be guilty of sin.
When God's Holy Spirit shows us the right thing to do, will we?
How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
- Memorize James 4:17.
- Thank God for His practical Word. Confess anything that the Holy Spirit points out to you right now that is an example of knowing the right thing to do, but not doing it. Thank Jesus for His forgiveness. Ask His Spirit to give you the desire to follow His leading in all of your actions every day.
For the next month, pray every day for Spirit-led sensitivity to follow through on doing what you know is right.
How can we connect today's story, God's Story scripture and our story to others?
- Return every wallet you find with $800 in it. OK, so since this isn't going to happen regularly, you could look for one opportunity every day to do something that is valuable to someone else!
- Remember some other examples of the sin of omission - like when we know the truth, but don't tell it. Or, we know that we shouldn't tear others down with our comments, but if we know someone who needs our friendship and we don't talk to them, we're guilty of knowing the right thing to do and not doing it.
- Use this DAILYBIDE as a topic for study with your youth group or small group.
- May 2008 [11]
- April 2008 [22]
- March 2008 [21]
- February 2008 [19]
- January 2008 [21]
- December 2007 [20]
- November 2007 [18]
- October 2007 [20]
- September 2007 [19]
- August 2007 [20]
- July 2007 [18]
- June 2007 [19]
- May 2007 [18]
- April 2007 [13]
- March 2007 [16]
- February 2007 [14]
- January 2007 [9]
- December 2006 [6]
- November 2006 [15]
- October 2006 [18]
- September 2006 [12]
- August 2006 [17]
- July 2006 [14]
- June 2006 [4]
