As I grew in both physical and spiritual, there were so many times that my honesty was tested, but a unique experience taught me that God requires honesty from each one of us.
Circa 1985. Just married for a year and realized that my husband loves a branded orange juice. One day, we decided to pass by a supermarket to buy some things we need at home. As usual, the orange juice was included. We went through the cashier's lane, paid the bill and went out.
My husband is always particular with receipts and the prices printed on it. He suddenly stopped and informed me that the cashier punched in the wrong price. The price on the receipt was for a pineapple juice and not for an orange juice which we both knew was dearer. I reasoned, why bother through all the hassles of returning and changing receipts, where in fact, the error was the cashier's fault, for not looking at the item intently and punching the wrong price. Convinced by my reasons, we went home.
One week later, my husband caught the flu. His special request.. buy him his favorite orange juice. I went to the same supermarket, made sure that it was his favorite brand, paid the cashier and went home, Upon arriving, I immediately got a glass and poured his favorite orange juice. Lo and behold! the juice coming out from the can was not orange but pineapple!. We checked the label, tasted the juice and stared at each other wondering. How can a well-known company with a meticulous quality control missed this?
Right there and then, we realized God was teaching us a lesson on honesty. Whether this was an error on quality control or God turned the orange juice to pineapple (remember, He turned water into wine), we imbibed the lesson, crystal clear. God requires honesty from His children.
Just yesterday, we bought a dozen of our favorite donuts and decided to try the new sweets they are promoting. As usual, my husband checked the receipt as we were entering another store. He noticed that we only paid for the donuts and not for the added sweets. We went back to the kiosk, showed the receipt and paid the remaining balance. The young man was so grateful and appreciated our honesty. We both knew that if we didn't go back, the amount will be deducted from his meagre salary.
On our way out of that mall, I looked down at my shirt and realized that I was wearing a black shirt with a cross printed on it. We smiled... because we know this time, we did not fail our Master. We were victorious over this simple test of honesty.
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