I once lived in an area where the gasoline prices were inflated. In our county the prices were about 15% higher than in neighboring counties. I learned that there were a couple of men who controlled the local fuel businesses, and they collaborated to keep the prices high.

One of these oil barons liked to portray himself as a philanthropist. He would make occasional donations to various charities in the area—$1,000 here and $1,000 there–always making sure that a newspaper photographer was on hand to spread the word about his “generosity”.

I often wondered how little time it took this man to take in $1,000 by over-charging people on fixed incomes. Elderly war veterans, widows, single mothers and hard-working people who did not earn much money all suffered in order to make this man rich. And he had the nerve to boast about his generosity!

Oh, well. We are only accountable for our own actions. God will bring justice in due time. Let’s just make sure that we don’t profit unjustly at the expense of the poor.

“Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.”—Proverbs 20:17.