Free smoothie anyone?

I overheard a conversation that my sons were having one time, and I have to admit that it was a very proud moment for me as a father. They were discussing playing golf and one told the other that his best friend landed a job as superintendent at a very prestigious golf club and now they could play at this club for free. My other son indignantly responded that playing golf for free there would be like stealing and he wanted no part of it. The other quickly fired back that his friend could allow guests to play the course as one of the perks of his job and that it was not stealing. He huffed that if it was stealing he wouldn’t do it either.

Oh yeah! They are grown men now and they are honest, and they have integrity and they have character. I remember an incident when all was not well in that department and I wondered this morning if my early advice to them had an positive effect later in life.

When one of them was still just a youngster he had a friend who worked at a smoothie place. This young lady was giving away free smoothies to anyone in the school who came by to see her and apparently most everyone in the school was taking advantage of this offer.

I found out about it because, (believe it or not), my son suggested we go by there and get a free smoothie. I explained to him why that would be wrong and that it was stealing. Someone had to pay for those smoothies, and they had to pay her worthless hide to work there. It’s hard enough to make it in business without someone stealing you blind every day. I told him to tell her to either immediately put a stop to it, or I was going to the owner.

One third of the businesses in America fail because of employee theft.
Any risk management expert will tell you that EVERY company has someone in it that steals. They steal all kinds of things including money, equipment, inventory, supplies, make personal long distance calls on their employer’s dime, call in sick when they’re not, or play video games when they should be working; you name it, (I’ve seen it all over the past 40 years).

Some steal because in their warped mentality they perceive the company as having done them wrong somewhere along the line and therefore it is somehow justified to steal from their employer as payback. Others do it because they desperately need the money, or sometimes because they are just plain dishonest, or just for the thrill of it.

It’s an expensive problem and billions of dollars are lost from employee theft and trying to prevent it and it hurts our country and society. Just think how much money would be saved if everyone had biblical training and refused to steal simply because it’s wrong! Even if their employer never finds out about it, God sees it all and the Bible assures us that even those who think they are getting away with it will ultimately pay a price for their dishonesty.

If you see it and it’s within your power to report it, or put a stop to it then please do so. At the very least don’t participate in it, even if it seems as though it’s not that big of a deal and everyone else is doing it The verse below says it all. God ABHORS dishonesty But he delights in honesty.

Proverbs 11:1
The Lord abhors dishonest scales,
But accurate scales are His delight.