Two narcotics suspects in San Diego flung thousands of dollars out the window of their pickup truck yesterday while being pursued by police. What followed was surprising or was it?
Several motorists stopped on the freeway to pick up all the loose cash they could grab while dodging passing cars. Much like playing “Frogger” but with real risk and real reward. These people must be crazy, right? But then I put myself to the test. Would I have stopped? It’s only $20 bills. Wait, was that a hundred? Hmm. Where’s the shoulder? I could use a few extra bucks. It’s just drug money. It doesn’t really belong to anyone, right? Maybe God wants me to have the money.
It’s amazing how we can rationalize our behavior sometimes. Would I give more thought to stopping to grab some lost cash than I would to stopping to help a stranded motorist on the highway? Those are questions I don’t like to ask myself because at times the answers make me very uncomfortable. At least there was a 16-year-old who returned $570 to police.
If we don’t stop and ask ourselves those very questions, at some point we will not like the answers. Pretending that we don’t have real thoughts and real temptations is the first step towards giving into those very things!
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. We will always be tempted, and our responses will vary. There is no situation where God’s rules and expectations are null and void, no matter how incredible or easy the earthly prize, such as drug money swirling loose on the highway.