Honesty for $.99

244/365

Every Sunday I do my wifely duty and head off to the grocery store. Every week I grab my cart and make an immediate B-Line for the fountain beverage station. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a nice drink while they grocery shop?

Anyway, after obtaining my usual 22oz Dr. Pepper, I’m off. Up and down every aisle. Having the meat man repackage all my meat into servings meant for couples and not just families of 3! Stopping at every single free sample station and really taking my time as I head down the magazine lane.

I finally reach the checkout and I’m inevitably faced with what some would consider a dilemma: Pay for your unmarked, and now gone, soda… or attempt to leave the store having consumed a refreshing beverage at no cost? Naturally, I always hand the check-out girl my soda cup and just tell her that I had been drinking it the whole time. She gives a small nod and scans the cup’s barcode to ensure full payment.

Now, this is obviously no big deal. I am not curing a disease. I am not defending this conglomerate against a would-be robbery. I am not even being all that nice about my check-out procedure. And yet, every single time, I walk out of that place feeling like such an amazing Christian.

This week, I sat in my car and just thought…really? Is my everyday life and surrounding culture so dishonest that I consider myself a cut above the rest just because I paid for my $.99 beverage? Is life really so deceitful that we can build our self-worth on free Dr. Pepper? My thinking is…that’s exactly what life is.

Micah 6: 10-11
“Do you expect me to overlook obscene wealth you've piled up by cheating and fraud? Do you think I'll tolerate shady deals and shifty scheming?” – The Message