One teen daughter yesterday went through orientation for a new retail job at a clothing store in a mall near us. There she was told that in the past six months the loss from shoplifting was $19,000. She was told about people who know how hard it is to convict someone of shoplifting, and who manage repeatedly to enter the store and take what they want when they want.
I know such people are out there. I just don’t like to think about it.
Another teen daughter was at work yesterday at a local bustling restaurant. She helped a manager empty the ‘customer comment’ box, and the manger asked her to sort through some of them with her. The first one my daughter read said something like this: “Thank you for hiring some clean white people.” The manager was horrified. My daughter laughed. But, my daughter is black.
I know such people are out there. I just don’t like to think about it.
I also know that my heart is capable of such things. If I do not do or say them, it is the grace of God restraining the sinfulness of my own heart. I long for a world in which the battle with sin is done, and where the knowledge of the goodness of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
That is a big order, a God sized hope, but God is the sovereign bringing this to pass. And the discipling of the nations through the church is his means. So, we keep at it, longing that his will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.