10/11/2025
THE BLESSEDNESS OF RESTITUTION
🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
*ACCOUNTABILITY*
*A Shopkeeper had just opened his store when a woman arrived and said, “Sir, here is your #100.”* 🙏
*The Shopkeeper looked at the poor Woman with questioning eyes, as if asking, “When did I give you #100?”* 😳
*The Woman replied, “Yesterday evening I bought some items. I gave you #1000, bought goods worth #700, and you returned #400 instead of #300.”* 😳
*The Shopkeeper touched the 100 Naira to his forehead, placed it in the cash box, and asked, “Tell me one thing, sister. You bargained so much while buying the items, even for #50. And now you’ve come all the way to return #100?”* 🤔
*The woman replied, “Bargaining is my right. But once the price is settled, paying less is a sin.”* 😳
*The Shopkeeper said, “But you didn’t pay less. You paid the full amount. This #100 came to you by my mistake. If you had kept it, it wouldn’t have made any difference to me.”*
*The Woman said, “It may not matter to you, but it would weigh on my conscience. I would know I kept your money knowingly. That’s why I came last night to return it, but your shop was closed.”* 😳
*The Shopkeeper asked in surprise, “Where do you live?” She replied, “Road 8.”* 😳
*The Shopkeeper’s mouth dropped open. “You came 3 kilometers just to return #100, and this is your second visit?”* 😳
*The Woman calmly said, “Yes, it’s my second visit. If you want peace of mind, you have to do such things. My husband is no longer in this world, but he taught me one thing: ‘Never take even a single kobo that belongs to someone else.’* 🤫
*Because a person may stay silent, but the One above can ask for an account anytime. And the punishment for that account might fall on my children.”* 😳
*Saying this, the woman left.*
*The Shopkeeper immediately took out #300 from the cash box, got on his bike, and told his assistant, “Take care of the shop. I’ll be back soon.”*
*He went to another shop in the market and handed #300 to the shopkeeper named Prince “Here, take your #300. Yesterday, when you came to buy goods, I overcharged you.” 😳*
*Prince laughed and said, “If you overcharged, you could’ve returned it when I came back. Why come so early in the morning ?”*
*The Shopkeeper replied, “What if I die before you return? You didn’t even know I owed you #300. That’s why I had to return it. Who knows when the One above will ask for an account? And the punishment might fall on my children.”* 😳
*The Shopkeeper left, but Prince was deeply disturbed.*
*Ten years ago, he had borrowed #30,000 ( thirty thousand Naira) from a friend. But the very next day, the friend passed away.* 😳
*The friend’s family didn’t know about the money, so no one asked for it. Prince, tempted by greed, never took the initiative to return it.*
*Today, that friend’s family lived in poverty. His widow worked as a maid to raise her children. Yet Prince had kept their money.* 😳
*The Shopkeeper’s words—“Who knows when the One above will ask for an account? And the punishment might fall on my children”—haunted Prince.* 😳
*After two or three days of mental turmoil, his conscience awakened. He withdrew #3,000,000 (3 million Naira )from the bank and went to his friend’s house.*
*The Widow was at home, sitting with her children. Prince fell at her feet. For a woman struggling for every kobo, #3,000,000 (3 million Naira) was a huge amount. Tears welled up in her eyes. She blessed Prince for his honesty.*🙏
*😳🤫 She was the same woman who had gone twice to return #100 to the shopkeeper.*
😳🤫
*💥 Those who live by hard work and honesty are tested by God, but He never abandons them. He listens one day. Keep faith in the One above. 💥
@ # C.E.N Nweze
