To a six year old in a family with limited financial resources the crisp new dollar bill in the birthday card seemed a fortune. An out of town relative had sent it perhaps realizing what it would mean to the boy to have an entire dollar to spend on himself. Unrealistic visions of the purchasing power of that single dollar filled his head as he slipped on his faded dungarees and buttoned his only dress shirt preparing to head for church with the family. Mountains of candy and piles of toys occupied his thinking as the '35 Plymouth sedan coughed and chugged toward church on it's remaining 5 cylinders.
The guest speaker for the morning was a missionary. Memories of just which country the speaker served have dimmed with age. But the urgency of the request for assistance in getting there still rings true through the years.
At the close of the service the missions offering was finally being received. The six year old thought about the great need for the Gospel in that distant land and the enormous cost the missionary had underscored in his talk. In the little boy's mind, the only source of money massive enough to fund such a need was his one and only dollar. By the time the offering container had arrived at his pew the boy clutched his offering reverently in his pudgy little hand. Mountains of candy and piles of toys evaporated from his thinking to be replaced by thoughts of a child rather like himself, but with darker skin, kneeling to pray as he had done months earlier to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. Gravely, the little boy placed his dollar in the pan experiencing that warm, clean feeling of joy every missions giver knows.
It was not a solitary piece of money that the Father had given that bought salvation for all. It was His one and only Son. He still looks for those who place greater value on the souls of men than they place on money or possessions.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..."
Lovingly,
Pastor Richard Orrell