Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Pennies on the Ground

"For who hath despised the day of small things?" (Zechariah 4:10)

Have you ever found a penny on the ground? Of course you have; probably dozens of them. I’ve asked that question to scores of people all over the place, sometimes even in arena settings where several thousand were present, and have always been answered in the affirmative. Everybody has found pennies on the ground -- not to even mention nickels, dimes and quarters.

And why is this? It’s simple, really. Pennies don’t matter. So if one or two, or even more happen to drop most people won’t bother bending down to pick them up. And if the pennies are already lying on the ground, scuffed and dirty, even more people will just pass on by.

Still, virtually everyone you know has picked up a penny at least once.

Now here’s the point. According to the most recent U. S. Census count, there are an estimated 200 million adults from age twenty to seventy currently living in the United States. And every one of them has picked up at least one penny from the ground. That means on any given day there is an average of 2 million dollars just lying on the ground in America! And that’s not taking into account the nickels, dimes and quarters!!

We are a Nation that walks right past well over two million bucks everyday without even think twice. After all, the only thing we see is pennies on the ground. If it's small, then it must not matter that much.

Albert Barnes writes, "The day of small things is especially God’s day, whose strength is made perfect in weakness; who raised Joseph from the prison, David from the sheepfold, Daniel from slavery, and converted the world by fishermen and tent makers -- having Himself first become the Carpenter."

What others overlook, Jesus takes hold of and then uses to do extraordinary things. I guess we could say that Jesus picks up pennies. That's why He took hold of you. And that, my friend, is no small thing! Think about that next time you see a penny on the ground.

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