The Found Coin
Have you ever found a coin that had been buried in the dirt for years? The coin is barely recognizable, and its potential value is so obscure that you are tempted to leave it in its crusted black sludge. But something called curiosity urges you to pick it up and take it home.
You put the coin in a solution used to clean copper, silver and gold. While the coin is soaking, you decide to research the area where you discovered it. To your delight you learn that the spot where the coin lay helpless in its tomb was an international currency exchange back in the early 1950’s. Tragically the entire small town was destroyed in a fire. Several coins were lost as the people escaped the flames leaving the coins to their doom.
You don’t recognize the now-discernable coin, so you rush over to the coin collector’s shop for the numismatist’s opinion. He examines it from one side to the other. He sets it on a cloth on the top of a glass showcase that holds a large display of rare coins.
You rub your sweaty palms together waiting for his conclusion. You wonder, What if it’s a rare coin worth thousands of dollars? Maybe even a million dollars?
The man behind the showcase sets his magnifying glass down and looks at you for a few seconds before he says, “This particular coin is a German coin worth about 10¢. It was probably a tourist’s souvenir. I’m sorry.” he says, with a shrug.
“I’m not,” you say. “It has value to me.”
The Coin Toss
Coins mean different things to different people. Take the Super Bowl, for instance. The coin is tossed into the air to determine which team will kickoff and which team will receive the ball. The coin used for the coin toss is a specially minted coin with the helmets of the two participating teams on one side and on the other side is the logo for that year’s Super Bowl. It is a valued coin but worth nothing as currency.
Currency of Heaven
Jesus often used metaphors and parables to illustrate a point or concept such as laying up treasures in heaven. There is no such thing as actual currency in heaven, of course, but if there were, some would liken it to be the righteousness of the blameless; others would say it is love; still others would say faith is heaven’s currency.
But what does Jesus say?
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
What did Jesus mean by that statement? According to the footnotes, it means to not put greater emphasis on earthly wealth, but to make spiritual rewards and blessings that are eternal and cannot be destroyed our top priority. For where our treasures are is where our heart is also since our priorities reveal our true values. And if we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness for there is no greater reward than to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”