by Ken Locke

Created on: November 30, 2008

For A Few Pennies

Matthew 8:26 "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"

Matthew 9:37 "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."

Luke 18:16, 17 "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

My daughter taught me a lesson about focus. She tackled a project that I just could not face because it was too messy. There is a dresser drawer that I keep junk in, like watches, wristbands, spare change, breath strips, Boy Scout beads, Boy Scout pins, lip balm, and, for some reason, old ticket stubs. She has recently been on a kick to collect pennies. Do you remember when pennies equated with riches in your mind? I lost that feeling years ago. In cleaning up, I decided to also clean that drawer of unneeded stuff, as well as give the pennies to her. The drawer is small. It is only about 3 inches by 5 inches, and only 1 inch deep. It can't hold very much, even if it were stuffed to the top edge of the drawer! I pulled it out, thought a minute, considered the effort weighed against the prize, and shut the drawer again. Not worth my time, I decided.

Later that day, in talking with my 6-year-old daughter, I offered her the change in that drawer. There were no conditions attached, like clean out the drawer, or organize the junk, or weed out the trash. Just take and keep any change that is in there. To my surprise, she immediately drew open the drawer, spilled it out on the bed, and began separating the coins. After she had gathered the money, she placed all the other items back in the drawer, and put the drawer back. She then asked me how much money she had. I helped her count, and it came to about $1.50. That is a 25% bonus on her allowance for about 10 minutes work! Think of that for your paycheck!

Now think about the non-monetary bonus Jesus calls us to gather for him. It takes a little work, there will be junk to weed through, and it isn't a save everyone all at once' scheme. Jesus truly just wants us to engage in the task, fight in the battle, get on the ride, and step into the ocean. So many of us stand on the shore of His greatness, and worry about too many things to let ourselves walk in. Christ hearkens us back to our days as youth when tasks were black and white and energy to do them was plentiful.

We are afraid to ask our friends if they know Jesus Christ. We are scared to ask our friends if they know where they will spend eternity. We sit at home or sleep in rather than go to church and fellowship. We leave our sin intermingled with our spiritual successes, vowing one day to sort through that pile, and quit holding on to evil habits. We even leave our Bible unopened for days at a time, even while we faithfully read the paper.

Be worker, not a spectator. Rise to the task with only faith in God's rightness as your companion. Stand in God's employment line, receive your work, and call it a blessing.

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