The Penny Drive

Bible Reading: Matthew 10:29-31; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

“Listen to this,” Mom said as Hope and her parents relaxed in the living room one evening. “The writer of this blog post says pennies should be discontinued in our money system because it costs too much to make them and nothing can be purchased for a penny anyway. What do you think about that?”

“I agree,” said Dad. “Pennies are a nuisance. I don’t like bothering with them, so I dump them in a jar on my dresser. It’s almost full.”

Just then Reuben came charging into the house after his youth club meeting at church. “Guess what! We’re going to have a contest to raise money for missionaries. The team that fills their giant container with money the fastest wins. My team is changing the money we collect to pennies so it takes up more space. Will you help me?”

Hope laughed. “I guess the person who wrote that blog post didn’t know about the needs of missionaries, Mom. There’s a use for pennies after all.”

Dad headed for the stairs. “Well, I’m all too happy to get rid of my jar of pennies by donating it to Reuben’s penny drive.”

A week later, Reuben had a huge smile on his face when he got home from youth club. “Guess what! The other teams had the same idea and filled their containers with pennies. They counted all the pennies donated, and we raised over twelve hundred dollars for the missionaries!”

“Wow!” said Hope. “Pennies seem worthless by themselves, but they really add up, don’t they?”

Dad nodded. “Each penny has value, even if we don’t see it right away. Perhaps remembering that will help us change our way of thinking in a few other areas as well.”

“Like what?” asked Hope.

“Well,” said Dad, “there’s a verse in the Bible that says God often chooses things the world has no use for.”

“I think that’s especially true when it comes to people,” said Mom. “Each and every person is incredibly valuable to God. He loves each one of us so much that Jesus died for our sins so we could have eternal life with Him. We’re all so valuable to Him that He even knows how many hairs each person has on their head!”

Reuben looked at his father’s balding head. “That’s getting easier and easier when it comes to Dad.”

They all laughed—even Dad!

-Catherine Runyon

How About You?

Have you ever taken a discarded object and made it into something useful? Or have you bought something no one else wanted and found it was just right for you? Maybe you know someone who the world sees as worthless. How do you think God feels about that person? God loves them very much—and He wants you to love them too.

Today’s Key Verse:
1 Corinthians 1:28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing
what the world considers important. (NLT)

Today’s Key Thought:

God values each person