2025-09-23T20:41:03+00:00

I was fraught with donut guilt. Not from eating them, but from stealing them.

You see, my friends and I had morning paper routes when we were kids. As we biked our way at 4 a.m., we noticed a Krispy Kreme truck that was making its daily deliveries.

The driver would hide boxes of donuts in various places so that the retailers would have them when they opened in the morning.

It seemed like a fun game, so we tailed the truck and watched as the donuts were stowed away in cars and various nooks and crannies.

And we then confiscated and consumed many of those donuts. Proverbs 9:17 says, “Stolen waters are sweet.” This was especially true of donuts.

We enjoyed our donut feasts. We longed for some milk as well, but the milkman didn’t deliver that early.

But then, several years later I found myself twisted up with guilt over the many poor choices I had made in my brief life – including the donut thefts. My guilt finally found its way to the cross, where Jesus paid my way to heaven – His blood shed for my sin.

Theologically and experientially, I was born again. I was free of the burden of my sin and its oppressive guilt, and I wanted the world to know it. So, I took my guitar and sang of God’s grace and mercy.

But one day it occurred to me that I was not completely guilt free. If the manager of the Krispy Kreme should have shown up at the church where I was singing – it would have dropped a load of condemnation all over me.

I wondered if I needed to make things right with him. So, I studied the Scripture.

The idea of making restitution was first discussed in Exodus 22:1-15. For instance, the man who stole an ox needed to repay the person from whom it was stolen. Granted, this is from the Old Testament and we Christian are governed by the New.

But I also I found Romans 13:8 where Paul wrote, “Owe no one anything.” Technically speaking I owed many folks for the things I had stolen.

I also remembered the example of Zaccheus the tax collector, who used the system to steal from people. When he found forgiveness from Jesus, he knew that he needed to repay those folks from whom he had stolen (Luke 19:8).

I was convicted. I needed to settle the account. So, I wrote a letter to the manager of the donut store. I told him what I had done and explained that Christ had changed the course of my life and that I wanted to make restitution. I also enclosed a check. I did the same thing with anyone from whom I had stolen.

Not long after, I began to receive letters in response to my letters – each one thanking me for my confession and restitution and each one granting me forgiveness. I still have those letters.

This one came from Krispy Kreme: “Dear James, Thank you very much for the letter. You are one in a million who would admit this. I am glad to hear that you have met your Savior and that He has forgiven you. We at Krispy Kreme sure can do the same thing. Thanks again. Come in any time.” P. Lockhart, Mgr.

How refreshing and liberating. I understand now what Paul meant when he said, “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience” – 2 Timothy 1:3. (NASU)

And I have to say that I so enjoy having a clear conscience, that I am prompted to quickly make amends with the Lord and others when I stumble in the present. My sins these days are not theft related, but they still stain my conscience until I make it right.

You may not have a donut debt, but you may have a debt of another kind. Perhaps it’s time to make things right!

A PRAYER: God, give us the courage to clear up the past

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible® unless otherwise noted.

Have you ever taken on more than you can handle? I sure have!

I ran into the lumber store to get a small bag of mortar. They don’t come in small bags, so I grabbed a 60 lb. behemoth. A shopping cart would have been helpful, but I was in a hurry.

I got in line to check out. The guy in front of me had two pushcarts full of lumber. Meanwhile, my load kept trying to find the floor.

8 grueling minutes later I made it to the register. With one arm, I somehow slipped my wallet and charge card out and signed my name on the device. The arm with the mortar went numb.

The cashier then asked if there would be anything else. I said, “Well could you put this in one of those plastic bags for me? She looked at me in disbelief and sadly nodded “no.”

I should have gotten a cart – I know, but I have always been a stubborn do-it-all-yourself kind of guy. I don’t need a person or a buggy to lighten my load. I’m all that I need.

This goofiness even slips into my relationship with God at times. When a tough problem comes, I YouTube it to death and then work harder and longer until it’s resolved.

I could have cited the apostle Paul as my example. He admitted in 2 Thessalonians 3:8, “In toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you.”

He sowed Gospel seeds during the day and sewed tents by night. His night gig produced income so that he could be financially self-sufficient as a minister. Paul seems like the poster child for people like me.

BUT, I did a concordance search on that phrase “night and day” and I found that Paul was also busy doing something else. He wrote to Timothy, “I remember you in my prayers as I do constantly night and day.” – 2 Timothy 1:3

It was his habit to pray night and day, reaching out to God, realizing that his strenuous and best efforts in ministry were less than sufficient to get the job done.

After all, it was Jesus who said, “Apart from me, you can accomplish nothing.” – John 15:5

OK, but how does our effort interface with the power of God our behalf?

Consider this. I was a sophomore in high school trying out for the varsity football team. The coach had us doing a drill where one blocker, had to fend off one tackler, and do it well enough to let a running back get by.

It was my turn, and I trembled as I faced an all-city senior. My 165 lbs. wasn’t going to be enough to block his 260.

The coach said “go” and I exploded into my opponent – which turned out to be a dud. He stood me up and stopped me flat.

The running back, however, did not hesitate. He got behind me, put his head in my back and added his strength to mine without missing a step. He blasted us both out of the way and I had succeeded. The guy had been blocked.

I could not have done it without that auxiliary power that was added to mine. And yet I was also crucial to the plan. If I had not been doing my part, the back would have gotten nailed.

So it is with God. We have our responsibilities in this life, and we need to give them our very best effort while at the same time we reach out to the Lord. We seek His infusion of strength and wisdom and at times His direct intervention for success.

The mortar to this story – – I mean – – moral to this story is this. “Work hard – pray hard.” Day and night if you must.

A PRAYER: Lord open my eyes to those times when I am straining to do what you want to do for me.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Scripture references are from the NETBible ®

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