Most Smartphones have a locator service. I used that service to discover the exact address and location of my phone. I remotely locked my phone and then contacted my phone provider and obtained a list of numbers that had been made from the phone since it went missing.
I then filed a police report and called my friend who is an investigator with the county sherriff's office. I talked with the investigator and asked if he wouldn't mind to go over and pick uo the phone for me.
Lastly, I knelt in prayer with my family and we prayed that God would help me get my phone back. The issue wasn't that I couldn't afford another or that there was important information on it-- there wasn't. It was more or a convenience thing and about the person with the phone shouldn't have it.
My point in telling this story is that I doubted when I made the police report if a deputy would waste their time going after something as insignificant as a smartphone. However, a great investigator took my information. I texted him a screenshot of the map showing the exact location of the device, and in less than an hour I had my phone back.
I didn't press any charges because it is possible I dropped the phone rather than it being taken. However, I checked witg my Brother-in-law lawyer who informed me that Georgia has no "finders-keepers" law. If you find something that is not yours, If you take possession, you must be actively engaged in trying to return it to its rightful owner.
I believe I was successful in getting my phone back because of prayer, because of the excellent professional help of Investigator Howell, but also because I did all I could on my end to find out where my phone was and who had it before turning the job over to someone else to go and retrieve it.
In fact, Public Safety was pretty much constrained to help me at this point because it came down to the issue of me going to the address and confronting this individual or allowing them to do it. I even asked the person making the police report if she recommended I just confront this person myself or allow Public Safety to assist.
23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi, 2 Nephi 25)
I think there is a true principle here that all applies to our discipleship of Christ and our eternal salvation. That principle is summed up in the Book of Mormon when it says we are "saved by grace after all we can do". But is this saying we can contribute one iota to our own salvation without God? No! Here Nephi was explaining why they bothered to observe the Law of Moses knowing that true salvation was in Christ alone and not the Law. Nephi was simply saying, Christ gave us the Law, so, we will observe it until Christ tells us to do something else.
21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us? (Book of Mormon, Alma, Alma 60)
In this scripture Captain Moroni is explaining to the Chief Judge Pahoran the conditions of deliverance which are identical to the conditions of salvation. Captain Moroni says that we can only hope for the Lord's help only if we have first, "made use of the means which the Lord has (already) provided for us.". So, this is not saying we meet God half-way or we can somehow contribute without God to our own salvation. What Moroni and Nephi are saying is that God has aleady given us grace and means and He expects us to make full use of those gifts and means before asking for seconds.
I really find this principle displayed in medicine with the patient's I see. It is so much better when a patient is actively engaged in their own health care, healing and well-being instead of taking little or no thought or action in trying to help themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment