Just a Bag of Carrots
“Need anything?” was the question asked after church on Sunday.
That’s code for The grocery store is only open until 2:00. We’re in town now, so if you want something you’d best speak up because I’m not coming in once we’re home.
“Just a bag of carrots,” I said. As I made my way up to the young cashier with bag of carrots in hand, I noticed she rang them up for well over three bucks. “I don’t think they were that much! I think they were something like $1.99 if I’m not mistaken.” Cheerfully she took my word for it and changed the price. However, something within me was moved to double check, and I went back to the carrot rack. I was right. The carrots were not over three bucks as I had been charged, but neither were they $1.99. The sign read, Carrots $1.69 per pound. As I looked closer, there were two rows. The first row held the one pound bags and the other row held the two pound bags. I had grabbed the two pound bag. This meant that they were indeed over three bucks for the one bag. She was the one who had been right. Once back at the register, I explained to the young clerk that I actually did owe her the amount originally charged.
The high school student smiled as she corrected my mistake for the second time, and just as she did so, looked up at me and said four words. “I like your necklace.”
I smiled back and said, “Thank you!”
You see, the necklace I was wearing, was a round metallic circle with a silver cross embedded within. Surrounding the cross was a crown of thorns. Not only had she noticed it, but bravely spoke up and by doing so, let me know she, too, had faith.
Our smiles connected as the silence hung between us. Sisters we were. I recognized her voice of encouragement, and within that encouragement was courage. Her heart spoke as she braved the public display of witness.
As I left the store, I wondered what the conversation would have been like had I not trekked back to the carrot rack.
Matthew 26:15 describes another outcome. “Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Him.”
Whether it’s thirty pieces of silver or thirty golden carrots, it‘s all the same. It’s betrayal. Thank you for lessons you offer in obedience. You rise up within us not for our sake, but for Yours.
What encouragement it was to see the next generation be courageous enough to rise up and call You blessed by giving witness right there in the isle of the grocery store. Amen.
