Salvation Pennies

It all started at Wyldlife camp, the summer of 2014. Everywhere I went I saw Pennies—forgotten pennies left on the concrete in the scorching sun losing their luster. Regardless if they were heads up I always picked the penny up and put it in my pocket. Maybe I valued the penny because of how I was raised or the fact that I’m a poor college student… nevertheless I picked up the pennies. Throughout camp when I planned to have a quiet time or spend time praying over my campers, my thoughts kept stumbling back to all the pennies in my pocket!

Why was I finding so many pennies?

Was Jesus trying to tell me something about my faith or just help me fill my piggy bank?

I kept thinking about the significance of a penny.

It’s just 1 cent

So compared to the other coins it is considered less valuable. But just because it’s less in value does that mean it should lose total significance?

My parents always taught me the “EVERY PENNY COUNTS” motto, so even as a middle schooler I understood the concept that one penny gradually leads to many pennies and many pennies led to a trip to McDonalds.

Still, I was curious, why did all these middle school kids in front of me not value the significance of a single penny? After a long meditation on the penny itself I figured out that the penny stood for something far greater than 1 cent.

In the south or Bible belt, kids grow up hearing the Gospel, hearing the story about Jesus dying on the cross and loving them unconditionally. In some cases kids hear it so much before even accepting Christ that the concept of Jesus loses it’s significance altogether. They know of Jesus—but when it comes to WHO HE IS they are left silent. 

(silent middle schoolers? What a sight).

In their eyes Jesus is just another penny on the concrete—an insignificant deity that does not relate or apply to their daily lives.

BUT, there is still hope for the penny! Despite the penny’s insignificance to the kids, these pennies were everywhere! 

I found pennies by the pool, on the sidewalk, in the showers, under bunk beds and even in the sand by the canoes. The presence of the pennies was evident just like the Lord’s presence at the camp. Even though some kids saw Jesus as insignificant to their lives or even a watered down version of Santa Claus—

His aroma was omnipresent and clear.

His presence was powerfully proven to me through the number of pennies found across camp.

Through these lost pennies I realized there is significance found in Jesus Christ. It is our duty and honor as believers to help the younger generation fully understand and experience Him personally in their lives.

Even if the kids don’t decide to accept Jesus’s gift and “pick up the penny”, the gift will always be there and it will always be THEIR choice if they want to accept it or not.