Eight-year-old Albert was having a special day. He got to go to work with his dad who was building a house. At the end of the day, they stopped by the hardware store for supplies before heading home.
As Albert’s dad climbed out of the pickup truck, he spotted a coin on the ground in the parking lot. “Look, Al, there’s a 50-cent piece,” he said.
An eager boy picked up the money, only to discover that it was a silver dollar! “Can I keep it, Dad?” he asked excitedly.
“We’d better see if it belongs to a customer in the store,” Dad decided. They went into the hardware store and found the supplies they needed, and then they stood in line at the checkout counter.
The clerk who waited on them listened to their report of finding the silver dollar. She smiled down at Albert. “I’ll write your name and phone number on this envelope, and we’ll call you if no one claims this,” she assured him, placing the coin safely inside the envelope.
Two weeks went by before the telephone call came. Albert answered it, and a grin spread across his face as he heard the store clerk tell him he could come and get his silver dollar! No one had claimed it.
The next day Mother drove Albert and his younger brother and sister to the hardware store. A happy boy received his coin, and, with a “thank-you,” headed home. Albert found a safe place to keep the silver dollar and hopes that he can collect more.
Albert learned that his great-grandfather has more than 200 silver dollars saved up! That seems like a lot, but when Dad told Albert about a man in their town who gathered together one million (1,000,000) silver dollars to display at the World’s Fair some years ago, he could hardly believe it. The man had owned many silver dollars and borrowed the rest to make a million, keeping them in a special vault in the bank. Many people came to see this valuable collection. I’m sure he hired guards to keep would-be thieves away!
We don’t know if that man had put his trust in the Lord Jesus, but we do know that even one million dollars cannot buy salvation, and it cannot bring lasting happiness to anyone.
We read in Psalm 49:67, “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” That means that no one can buy his way into heaven for himself or anybody else. The cost is too high! God says only the precious blood of Jesus can redeem us. “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:1819).
Next time you see a silver coin, remember the price of your redemption, if you have let Jesus wash away your sins. Then, thank Him for giving you the most expensive gift there is. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
Have you been redeemed by the blood of Jesus?
ML-10/06/1996