I never knew house-sitting could be so…dangerous. The day we arrived at our friends’ house to watch their dogs, feed the cat and water the plants, we were greeted with an entirely different mission. That morning, a small child was shoved through a six-inch crack in the window and was instructed by a man outside what to rob. The investigator later found the child’s fingerprints on the inside and the other man’s fingerprints on the outside of the windows (not that they are even on record here).
Now, what do we do? Our friends (who also work here) were scheduled to fly out the next morning with their two kids for the U.S. To make a long story short, they left and we began the long process of changing all the locks (they got keys) of the cars and the house, putting bars on the windows and having an alarm system installed. Do you think that gave us peace?
Needless to say, with the open window, we did not leave the house for two weeks until the alarm was fully installed. So when Sunday rolled around and we finally told all the neighbors we were leaving that day, Krista (who is the brains behind the operation) took 3×5 cards and taped them to the boxes locked up outside in the courtyard, just in case someone came up to the gate to look in.
The “fake” labels read “libros de ingels” (translation, “English books”). She was so proud of herself. She came walking in with a big smile on her face and told me what she did. I showed my ignorance when I asked, “Why in the world would you do that?” She looked at me like I was crazy and said, “So if the thieves do try to steal the trunks, they will not want a bunch of English books.” We laughed and started thinking of funny labels to make like “DIRTY UNDERWEAR” and stuff like that. Then, we thought to make a label that says, “BIBLES,” a thief would never want to steal Bibles.
Wow, I later thought to myself, is that not just like the way I often look at life. The most valuable “things” in life are often the very things I look right past because I don’t actually care how valuable they appear. The wisest thief in the whole world would bust down those gates to get to a box full of Bibles (not that we wouldn’t just give them to him), but instead, he passes right over them in order to grab an iPod or a computer, thinking he “hit the jackpot.”
What a fool.
What a fool I am when I pass right over God’s Word, which is full of life and truth, but instead think I hit the jackpot because I got my car running, or the floors mopped or wasted two hours watching a movie. What a fool I am when I do not stop to realize the life that God has for me, but instead pass right over Him to do my own thing. Am I really any different that the thief who is fooled by a trunk full of Bibles?
Please pray for Krista and me as we strive to know this God who is rich in mercy and abounding in love. Pray that we have eyes to see the truth and wisdom to walk in it. Pray that we will not be fools with the time and resources He has given us.