It was during a period at my workplace that was undergoing major renovations having recently moved over the past Christmas break.
As such we had many workers, couriers, drivers, electricians going in and out of the break room where our bags are kept during the day. When I started my lunch break I realised my wallet was missing and set about dissecting my bag and car to triple check that it was definitely gone – it was.
I then went about listing all that was in my wallet and when you stop and think about all that you carry in the little bundle of leather sitting in your back pocket you realise how much of your world sits inside.
Inside I had: drivers licence, credit card, debit card, library card, forklift licence, construction site inducted card, health insurance card, loyalty card to a restaurant that gave 15% off steak (I will miss that the most), around $4 in coins (I mean if the thief wanted a drink/snack from the vending machine I would be generous enough to buy).
After cancelling all my cards and re-ordering them I thought of the odd bits that were inside like business cards, receipts, movie tickets and other sundries but looking for a positive to the situation I had some bible verses that were given to me by children from my church at Sunday School.
All the well-known verses were there: John 3 verse 16, Proverbs 3 verses 5-6, Genesis 1 verse 1. These were token reminders that caught my eye whenever I opened up my wallet.
These little verses should hopefully help the thief and allow the Lord to enter his heart and make a change about his lifestyle.
I prayed that by stealing my wallet he would one day say it was the best thing that happened to him and how he found Christ, my only wish was that I had the verse 'Thou shall not steal'!
Christopher Archibald lives in Sydney and is a Youth Leader at New Life Christian Church in Blacktown. A supporter of the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, he hopes 2014 will not be another "re-building" year.
Christopher Archibald's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/christopher-archibald.html