Penny

Clip art courtesy of http://imagevision.com

I pick a shiny copper penny up off the floor. The head of Abe Lincoln is embedded on the front of the coin and on the back is a shield with the words “E pluribus unum” (translation: out of many, one) inscribed on it.

I remember when the penny could buy so much more than it can today. You used to be able to buy a piece of candy for a penny or a piece of bubblegum. If a kid had a quarter and went to a store that sold penny candy, that kid would leave thinking he or she were rich.

As a child, I didn’t understand the value of a penny and I’ve got to admit that, now as an adult, I am not the best money manager in the world but I do know how much things cost. I know how much the light bill is; how much the phone bill is; how much the water bill is; how much the doctor bills are; how much groceries cost; how much gas costs. There is very little room for luxuries.

There are a few things that I know that money won’t buy. One of them is true love. Another is respect. And, in a nod to songwriter Guy Clark and singer Jerry Jeff Walker, another is homegrown tomatoes.

Money also cannot buy salvation. We can’t buy our way into Heaven. Jesus Christ has already paid that payment for us with His death on the Cross. Our job is to simply accept His sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary for our sake and ask Him to come into our hearts and save our souls.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)