Colby Chaucer stood alone in the big office.  In his hand he held his sealed bid. He desperately hoped to get the contract to build the new hospital parking garage.   It would pull his construction company out of a six-month slump that was threatening him with Chapter Thirteen bankruptcy.  He had already laid off half of his work force, and he had very little for the rest of them to do. The old hospital administrator had stepped out of the office and around the corner.  Colby could hear the conversation the administrator was having with someone, and it sounded like he was going to be waiting in the old man's office for awhile.  Right now Colby's eyes rested on a piece of paper lying on the gleaming mahogany desk.  The letterhead was that of Colby's competitor; it had to be the other bid the hospital had received.  He could tell it was his competitor's bid, but he couldn't see the amount written on the bottom line. It was obscured by a can of Pepsi Cola the old man had haphazardly left sitting there. If Colby could just move the can long enough to see the bid, he could change his bid to undercut his competitor's figure.  He looked around.  He could still hear the old man talking. The conversational tones of the exchange were such that Colby was sure he'd have time to reach across the desk, lift the Pepsi, look at the bid, then open his own envelope and change his figure if necessary...

    Mitchell Anderson was standing in line at the cafeteria.  He had spent all morning in an interview with the board.  He had answered all their questions favorably, and the job was his as soon as lunch was over. He would be president of the largest bank in the region.  His income would swell from nothing to beyond his wildest dreams.  He was already thinking of how his lifestyle and future would change as a result of landing this job.  He spoke cheerfully with the Chairman of the Board as they slid their trays of food down the polished stainless steel counter.  Near the end were the condiments.  He was surprised to note that each slice of butter was twenty cents.  He slid one pat of butter onto his potatoes with his table knife, and then quickly slid a second one to his plate, stuffing it inside the pile of mashed potatoes so as to hide it from the cashier...

    Greg was a young businessman.  He was hundreds of miles from home. His conversation with the attractive young woman had escalated to the point where he was considering the night of pleasure she was offering.  After all, nobody knew him in Dallas; his wife was eight hundred miles to the west. Who could ever find out?  He had always heard about "one night stands" and wondered how it would feel to experience one.  Besides, this young woman was so sexy and so willing...

    Back at the hospital administrator's office, Colby took one last glance over his shoulder. The old man was still in deep conversation around the corner.  The receptionist was busy at her computer.  Colby reached across the desk and tilted the can just a little... To his surprise, hundreds of BB's poured out from under the can, rolling all over the big mahogany desk and cascading onto the carpeted floor of the office.  He turned cold and pale, quickly looking over his shoulder to see the old man standing with his arms folded just inside the open door...

    Back at the bank, it was time to finalize the contract which would promote Mitchell to bank presidency.  The board members quietly sat around the table while he waited outside. The speakerphone beeped on the pretty blonde secretary's desk and the Chairman's voice spoke forth.

    "Send in Mr. Henderson."

     "Yes sir," she answered, nodding at Mitchell.  His heart pounded as he walked through the wide doorway to stand at the foot of the huge conference table facing the board of directors.  At the other end of the table sat the Chairman.  Contemplating Mitchell for a full thirty seconds, he spoke carefully and deliberately...

    "Mr. Henderson, we've decided that you're just not the man for the job."  Mitchell was stunned, his mind whirling.  He had been out of work for months and now this job was evaporating before his very eyes.  Suddenly he became angry.

    "You told me before lunch that I had the job!” He bit the words off through clenched teeth, “Don't you have the integrity to keep your word?"

    "You exposed yourself as an untrustworthy man, Mr. Henderson," the chairman told him.  "If you would steal a twenty cent piece of butter at the cafeteria, we just can't trust you with the authority you'd have as president of this bank."

    At the hotel, Greg woke up alone in bed.  He had never experienced a night like last night.  The woman was gone now, having visited the bathroom and slipped out.  Greg was alone to contemplate what he had done.  He was already awash with feelings of dreadful guilt.  This wasn't like the movies, it was dirty.  Greg cursed himself for a filthy fool as he slid off the bed and stumbled into the bathroom to find the note she had scribbled in lipstick on the mirror:
 

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF A.I.D.S.

Life is Full of Choices...

... I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life,

so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God,

listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.

~Deuteronomy 30:19b-20