I read of a father who was taking his two sons to play miniature golf. He inquired of the price, and the attendant told him it was $3.00 for him and $3.00 for any child over six. The father told him one boy was three and one was seven. "You could have saved $3.00 if you said the older boy was six. I wouldn't have known the difference." The father replied, "Yes, that's true, but the kids would have known the difference."
There is that depravity of the human heart that makes a person save $3.00 by being a crook. I drove into the bank drive-in window and sent a small deposit. When the conveyor came back there was an envelope full of hundred dollar bills. I looked with amazement at several thousand dollars. How easy to just drive off! Only the grace of our Lord kept me from thinking about it. I sent it back, and you know what? The lady did not even say thank you. Man is naturally a crook. This certainly holds true in spiritual matters.
Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:2, "We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not handling the Word of God deceitfully." Many preachers today, for personal profit, do hide the truth, either for popularity or monetary gain. Think of the loss though. To lose God forever!
Oh, to be honest! Only the Lord Jesus can restrain the lyin', cheatin', stealin' heart of man. How many fathers are teaching their children to be dishonest? The father in our story said, "The kids will know the difference." When we tend to dishonesty may we say, "I know the difference, and it is for sure God knows the difference."