“I lost my wallet in the city. Cash, cards, ID. Gone. I was panicking. I cancelled everything. I assumed it was stolen.
Three days later, a package arrived at my house. It was a padded envelope. Inside was my wallet. All the cash was there. The cards were there.
But there was also a letter. ‘Hello. I found your wallet on the subway. I looked at your ID and saw you live 50 miles away. I’m homeless. I don’t have a car or money for postage. But I saw a picture of your kids in your wallet. I have kids too that I haven’t seen in years. I didn’t want you to lose that picture.’
The letter continued: ‘I panhandled for two days to get the money for this postage. Hope it gets to you safe.’ He used his food money to mail my wallet back. I drove to the city to the return address on the envelope.
It was a shelter. I found the man. His name was Thomas. I didn’t just give him a reward. I helped him get a job at my brother’s warehouse. He’s been working there for a year now. He’s seeing his kids again next month.
Honesty is expensive. If you find it in someone who has nothing, you’ve found gold.”
My Commentary:
Honesty is easy when it costs us nothing. Its true value is revealed when doing the right thing requires sacrifice.
Thomas had almost nothing. Yet when he found a stranger’s wallet, he did not see cash he could use. He saw a photograph of someone’s children and thought about his own. Then he begged for two days — not to feed himself, but to buy enough postage to return what belonged to someone else. That is integrity.
Jesus once watched wealthy people place large gifts into the Temple treasury. Then a poor widow gave two tiny coins. Jesus said she had given more than everyone else because they gave from their abundance. She gave from her poverty.
Thomas did something similar. The postage may have cost only a few dollars, but for a homeless man those dollars represented food. His honesty had a price.
And then grace came full circle. The owner did more than reward Thomas. He saw the man behind the homelessness, helped him find work, and gave him an opportunity to rebuild his life and reconnect with his children.
One man returned a wallet.
Another returned hope.
That is how the Kingdom of God often works: one act of goodness awakens another.
The story ends with a wonderful truth:
“Honesty is expensive. If you find it in someone who has nothing, you’ve found gold.”
And in God’s eyes, that kind of gold is priceless.
Think of someone to whom YOU have given the Gift of Hope.
SUNSHINE IS TO FLOWERS WHAT GOD’S LOVE IS TO YOUR SOUL!!
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