If that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

Against company policy, a customer convinced me to remove links on his fine-grade Tag Huer watch, which took me the better part of a half hour to complete.

Once I had finished, I handed him his watch, and moved towards the register to ring up the sale.

"You know, I don't need a receipt if you wanna just pocket the money."

I laughed awkwardly.  "It's really tempting, but...."  I started to enter my employee code into the computer. 

"Don't even press the button.  Just take it."  He slid ten dollars across the counter.

I wanted to.  I really wanted the money.  I put it in my pocket, and helped the next person who came up to the counter. 

It's just a service I offered, I thought.  It's not as if I'm stealing merchandise.  And he *GAVE* it to me.  That's not dishonest.  Right?

Remember the other day when I was thinking about that fabled list of sins kept in Heaven?  One of the actions on my mind was this *EXACT* interaction--another customer who had links removed and didn't need a receipt. 

It would be so easy to pocket this money, I thought. 

But I didn't, aware that in this case, I was stealing from the store, and stealing from that person. 

So the fact that merely four days later I was confronted with the same choice made me extremely wary.  I mean, what if it was a test?  The thought crossed my mind before, and I felt the sweet lure of temptation, though had denied it.  And now I was offered that which was the object of my temptation, in an interaction that gave me flat permission to take the money. 

Was it still wrong?  If the customer knowingly gave the money?  It felt wrong.  I called to ask advice from a friend, explained the situation, and Friend told me that if God wanted me to have the money, he would have given it to me in a way that wasn't so morally confusing.  And by denying it and cashing it into the register, it was a statement of trust in God's provision.

Good point.  I knew from the start that it would eat away at me if I kept it.  So I rung out the sale, and the total came to $10.65.  If I wanted to do it right, I would have to pay the $0.65 in tax to make the drawer even.  I counted the change in my pocket, and with two quarters, a nickel, and ten pennies--I had exactly sixty-five cents in my pocket and no more.  I think I made the right decision.