The little six-month-old Rottweiler puppy was certainly cute. Roxanne Duff had found it after it had strayed into her yard along with a Golden Retriever. She did the right thing and called the local police and left a message asking what to do with the dogs. But all that cute, playful innocence got Roxanne thinking. By the time Police Officer Christopher Laird called Roxanne back to advise her to contact the local animal shelter or dog kennel, she’d decided the Rottweiler puppy had “run away.”
By that evening the owner of the dogs, Shawn Lerch, had been found and had gotten his Golden Retriever back. His suspicions aroused about the “runaway” Rottweiler, he contacted the police. Officer Laird knocked on the door of the Duff home but was told by Roxanne’s husband Scott that they had no idea where the cute puppy had gone. Lerch wasn’t easily convinced. He demanded the Duffs return his dog. When they claimed no knowledge of its whereabouts, he contacted the police again.
This time the police chief, Michael Diebold, showed up at the door. Roxanne wasn’t home and neither was Scott — only their five-year-old boy with a babysitter. But their five-year-old son had some interesting information to share with the police chief: His “mommy had given the dog to a woman from the Internet.”
Confronted with the truth, the Duffs immediately denied knowing the whereabouts of the puppy. But they were getting scared. A little while later Scott called the police back with a confession. Roxanne Duff had sold the Rottweiler on Craigslist for $50. Now they’ve each paid a $500 fine and done 10 hours of community service. They both have the first entries on their criminal record, including failure to make a reasonable effort to return lost property. Maybe you weren’t aware, but that’s considered a subset of theft.
And maybe you weren’t aware that any cute little temptation that leads to a “small sin” brings heavy consequences. It may have brought a temporary reward and looked like no one would ever know about it. But “be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:77Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)). The Duffs had a day to enjoy $50. Then they had fear, confusion, a court case, a guilty plea, $1,000 total in fines, 20 hours total of community service, and a criminal record. That’s a pretty big crop. Pleading the good deed they did in returning their neighbor’s Golden Retriever was irrelevant. We can’t think that our lying, deceit, “petty” theft, anger, boasting, selfishness and more will have a “crop failure” because we’ve given to charity and mowed our neighbor’s lawn. God will show us what we deserve to reap. We won’t be able to claim that our “good deeds outweigh the bad.”
Why not admit to your sins today before it’s too late to do so. God still offers forgiveness of sins through the blood Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary. But if we refuse to admit our guilt and receive His forgiveness, we will have our day in court. Then we will discover what the full consequences of our sins are. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).