LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain? — Psalm 15:1

In honour of my father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, and his lifework helping Christians understand the Jewish roots of their faith, I offer you one of his devotional teachings from the beloved Psalms.

Several years ago, a Dairy Queen customer shared the following on social media that went viral: As a blind man was paying at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota, a $20 bill fell out of his pocket. A woman standing behind him picked it up. A DQ employee, Joey Prusak, thought that the woman was going to return the money, but instead she tucked it into her own wallet.

When she approached Joey to place her order, the nineteen-year-old asked her to return the money to its rightful owner, but the woman refused. Joey asked the woman to return the money or leave the store because he could not serve such a disrespectful person. The exchange went back and forth until the woman finally left with the money still in her pocket. Joey then reached into his own wallet, took out $20 and gave it to the blind man who had been sitting and eating his ice cream. Joey said to the man, “Sir, on behalf of Dairy Queen, I’d like to return the $20 bill that you dropped.”

What’s even more amazing has been the response to this story. Joey became an overnight celebrity, and people have flocked to the Dairy Queen where he works so that they can support and see a place of kindness for themselves. Billionaire Warren Buffet paid Joey a call, and conservative radio host Glenn Beck offered to buy Joey his own Dairy Queen store. Another woman offered to pay for Joey’s college. The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming. Joey himself said, “I didn’t expect any of this to come from something that was so little in reality.”

Perhaps that’s because Joey’s act wasn’t so little after all.

In Psalm 15, the psalmist gives us a list of characteristics of the people deserving to enter heaven. The psalm begins, “LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?” The Jewish sages teach that both the “sacred tent” and the “holy mountain” are references to the afterlife. Twelve traits of the deserving individual are listed in the psalm, including being blameless, righteous, and truthful; despising evil; and honouring goodness. However, all the traits can be summed up in one word: Integrity. And integrity is what Joey Prusak demonstrated.

Seemingly small acts of integrity are hugely significant in our lives. We may not receive the same kind of fanfare that Joey received when we do the right thing, but to God, it’s headline news. In the end, these small acts will be all that matters. Nothing in this world is worth the cost of our integrity.

Certainly not $20.

Your turn: As we celebrate the men in our lives this month, enjoy a complimentary download of our “Man of Faith” devotional booklet.