In the 1890's a man drove by the farm of Mrs. John R. McDonald. A sudden gust of wind caught his black derby hat and whirled it onto the McDonald property. He searched in vain for the hat and finally drove off bareheaded.
Mrs. McDonald retrieved the hat, and for the next 45 years various members of her family wore it. Finally the old derby was beyond repair, completely "worn out." It was at that point Mrs. McDonald went to the local newspaper and advertised for the owner of the hat. She noted in her ad that while the hat had been on the heads of the menfolk in her family, the hat had been on her conscience for 45 years.
Is something nagging at your heart today--an awareness that you have committed a wrong against another person, or a feeling that something has gone amiss in a relationship? Don't "stuff" those feelings. Seek to make amends. The sooner you do, the easier you'll find the reconciliation and restoration--and the easier you'll find your rest at night.
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience of offense toward God, and toward men.
Acts 24:16
