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All of All of us have
heard the familiar stories of pennies found on the sidewalk being good
luck, gifts from angels, etc.
Have you ever considered them as springboards in spreading the
gospel? If not, you may
never look at the lowly penny quite the same again.
A husband and wife
were invited to spend the weekend at the home of the husband's boss. They
both were nervous about the weekend because his employer was exceedingly
wealthy, with a home larger than some small towns and luxury cars costing
more than this couple's entire net worth.
The morning and afternoon of the first day
passed uneventfully. Both
the husband and wife were amazed to have this rare glimpse into the life
of the super wealthy.
As host, the husband's boss was quite
generous. That evening he
offered to treat them to dinner at the town's finest restaurant. Sensing they would never again
have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance, they
purposed to savor every minute.
As the three of them were about to enter the
exclusive restaurant, the boss stopped suddenly in his tracks and looked
down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.
The couple was puzzled and they wondered
whether they were to pass by him.
Looking down, neither of them saw anything on the ground save a
single stained penny and some cigarette butts. Still not saying a word,
the executive reached down to pick up the penny.
He held it up, gazed intently at it, smiled,
and then placed it in his pocket as though he had found a great
treasure. The husband and
wife exchanged glances as both found this unusual episode to be absurd. What need could this man possibly
have for a single discarded penny?
Time is money...so why would this wealthy executive even take the
time to pick one up?
Throughout dinner, the thought of what they'd
witnessed nagged both of them.
Unable to contain himself any longer as they waited for their
dessert, the husband casually mentioned that he once had a coin
collection as a child and asked whether the penny found on the ground had
been of some rare value.
A smile crept across his boss' face as he
reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for both to
see. They wondered what the
point was…after all, they'd seen countless pennies many times before.
"Look at it," he said to both of
them. "Read what it says."
The wife read, "United States of
America?"
"No, not that...read further."
"One cent?" the husband responded.
"No, keep reading."
"In God We Trust?" they both said in
unexpected unison.
"Yes!" he said with a broad smile.
"And?" the husband asked, unsure
exactly what path the executive was leading them down.
The boss paused, looked down briefly as though
in prayer, then raised his head and said, "If I trust in God, the
name of God is holy...even on a coin. So, whenever I find a coin I read that inscription. It's written on every US coin but
we never seem to notice it.
God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust
Him...and who am I to pass it by? Therefore, whenever I see a coin on the
ground, I stop immediately to see if my trust IS in fact in God at
that moment. As a response
that I do trust in Him, I pick up the coin. For a short time, I cherish it as though it were fine
gold. I think it's the
LORD's way of starting a conversation with me. How blessed I am that God is patient and pennies are
plentiful! Here endeth the
lesson. Your chocolate
mousse has arrived."
Wow!
The world looks at a penny and sees nothing of any real value –
these days one penny can’t even purchase gumballs anymore. But, as believers, when we look
at a penny and read the words "In God We Trust" we have the
privilege of being continually reminded of the greatest treasure
imaginable.
So the next time we find ourselves frazzled,
confused and worrying about all the things we cannot change, perhaps we
would do well to reflect on the lesson this couple learned from the rich
executive and the lowly penny...AND how even a penny can be used as an
effective springboard to reach others in spreading the gospel!
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