Fraudulent Charges

We still have a landline.
I asked my husband to keep our house phone even though I know he wanted to get rid of it.
I explained to him that it was a way to keep my cellphone number private.
I give my cell phone number out very selectively.

The house phone rarely rings for personal calls.
However, during the election season, the phone rang incessantly.
I never answered the phone since I can screen those calls with caller ID.
Why do we still have the landline? Was my husband’s legitimate question.

That is the number I put on forms and things.
That is the number I can screen if calls come through.
That is the number of a general line and not my personal line.
That is the number that provides a bit of protection.

My reasons must have satisfied him since we still have the landline.
The phone rang last week, after we finished our dinner.
This is the fraud department of…
Your account has had unauthorized purchases…

I called my husband into the kitchen to hear the message.
There was a case number and a phone number to call.
My husband pulled up our account online and we went over the recent charges.
Two separate movie ticket purchases were recently made, which were mine.

However, in between the two movie ticket purchases were charges that were not mine.
There was a charge for tickets to a show in New York and gasoline purchase in Chicago.
Ugg boots were purchased in Boston.
I was getting annoyed as I looked at the charges that someone made on my credit card.

We called the number we were given.
The credit card company was extremely helpful.
My husband appreciated their thoroughness.
There is a pattern to our monthly spending and usual locations where we make those purchases.

These fraudulent purchases were flagged because they were unusual and made on the same day.
Thankfully, we are not responsible for any of those purchases.
But someone is!
Someone’s dishonesty costs someone else dearly.

The woman we spoke to told us that another large purchase was attempted that day.
Almost $700 was to be charged at Target; however, that last purchase was declined.
How did my credit card number get to New York, Chicago, and Boston?
Did the people using my credit card feel guilty as they bought things in my name?

The credit card company closed our card and issued us a new one.
It was to be sent by Fed Ex and was to arrive in two days.
There was only one place I had been where I used my card before this happened.
They were going to investigate that place.

There was a feeling of being violated.
I was annoyed that someone bought things pretending to be me.
You don’t know anything about me, I found myself thinking.
I was just a means to an end.

The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful. (Proverbs 12:22)

Lying is a means to an end.
Dishonest people really believe that the ends justifies the means.
There is no thought of another.
There is only a need to satisfy themselves at that moment despite the cost.

The cost of a lie is great.
Trust is lost.
Consequences affect innocent people.
Lies are often justified, which makes it easier for the person to lie again.

If only the person who lies would use their ingenuity for good.
If only the person who lies would realize that the cost is great.
Lying only satisfies for the moment.
I imagine the fraudulent purchaser spends quite a bit of time looking over his or her shoulder.

If you tell the truth, you never have to remember what you did last.
If you tell the truth, you never have to worry about what you said last.
If you tell the truth, your story stays the same.
If you tell the truth, you can sleep well at night.

Even if the lying person thinks they got away with something, God sees.
God, whose eyes are always on us, knows all that we do.
A lie is never in secret.
A liar will always be found out.

Can you imagine if the efficient system of selling credit card numbers was used for good?
Can you imagine if the total of all those fraudulent purchases was tallied and given away?
What if instead of defrauding, that creative energy was used to help another?
What if instead of trying to satisfy their whims, they thought of people they could help?

What if attention was turned outward instead of inward?
I have heard that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their checkbook entries.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
We need a new focus for our treasure.

We spend so much time on fleeting things.
We spend so much time trying to acquire rather than give away.
We see item after item that Madison Avenue tells us we must have.
Some people will go to any length to have them.

However, we spend little time on what we really need.
We need the Lord Jesus.
Jesus is our Master.
Jesus is Lord over our finances, our purchases, our wants, and our desires.

We tend to put ourselves on the throne of our life.
That position is already taken.
Jesus is the only One worthy to be on that Throne.
When Jesus is rightfully on the Throne, everything is in order.

Jesus is Lord and we must live like it.
Our Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
All those disgusting sins were placed on Him, who had no sin.
He bore the burden of our sin and took the punishment that was meant for us.

God sees all we do, God knows all we think, and God hears all we say.
Yet He still loves us.
There is nothing fraudulent about God’s abundant love and grace.
And that’s the Truth.