The Value of a Coin
By Joan Walker Hahn
And said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:15 (NKJV)
My husband and I recently visited a small park in which there is a pond. There is a walking trail around the pond and a couple small piers that extend out over the water. There are ducks, turtles and fish that call the pond their home. On one of the piers, there was a small coin-operated machine in which a quarter can be placed, and in return, outcomes a handful of pellets on which the ducks could snack.
My husband invested a quarter and the ducks who were near the pier were the happy recipients of that snack tossed into the pond. I even noticed that as he was turning the knob on the machine, the ducks must have heard the sound and started gathering close to the pier. They were shaking their little tail feathers excitedly and quacking, as if they were telling their friends.
It caused me to remember the value of a few coins in my hand as a child when my brother and I would stay with my grandmother. My aunt, my grandmother’s youngest child, is just a couple years older than my big brother, so the three of us enjoyed time spent together.
My grandmother would place a couple coins in each of our hands. A dime and a nickel, maybe a few pennies, and off we would walk to the corner store. That was the era when children could roam the neighborhood out of sight of their parents with nothing to worry about. When we got to the store, it was amazing how much those few coins could buy. One penny could buy three to five pieces of bubblegum. Suckers and candy bars could also be bought with that small budget. We would each leave the store with a small poke full of various kinds of candy. (If you don’t know what a poke is, it was a brown paper bag. Another memory of days gone by.) To us, those few coins allowed us to be the recipients of wonderful treats.
My husband also recalled the value of a single coin. When he was young, he said he could buy twenty-five cents worth of gas and have enough to mow several yards. That one quarter would allow him to become the recipient of three to five dollars per yard.
There were also some other coins whose value allows us all to become recipients of this world’s greatest gift. Thirty pieces of silver. That was the cost for the Lord Jesus to be delivered into the hands of Roman soldiers by His betrayer.
Jesus came into the world to become our sacrifice on the cross so that salvation could be ours. So even though the plan of salvation was in place before the foundation of the world, those coins began the end of Jesus’ life on earth. They were the value that Judas found worth turning away from his relationship with Christ; but to us, those coins were invaluable. It set in motion the events that had to take place so that Christ could fulfill His purpose.
We may not be selling Christ out for a few coins, but what are we willing to accept in place of Him? Do we really place great value on our relationship with our Lord? Do we give Him our time, our talents and our treasures? Or do we allow things to keep us from giving Him our all?
When we become the recipient of His forgiveness and grace, then we will realize that nothing else is more valuable than a relationship with Him. All the silver and gold this world can offer will mean nothing. And when we spend time with Him in prayer and through the reading of His Word, it will bring more excitement than a bunch of ducks shaking their tail feathers. May we all share the word and tell others about the great treasure Christ has to offer.
Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing Your Son to become our sacrifice on the cross so that we could be saved. Help us to not allow things in this world to come before our relationship with You. When we look at our coins, may it cause us to think of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Help us to share with everyone the eternal value of receiving Christ as our Savior. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
For more encouragement, visit Joan at joanwalkerhahn.com.
© 2020 by Joan Walker Hahn. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Tuesday, 26 May 2020.
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