The Neglected Quarter

Every day - or almost every day- my little man and I head out for a four mile walk. I love the fresh air and exercise; and Zeke gets a solid nap in the stroller. But there's another benefit to my daily walk: sometimes, I find money. It's usually not much; just a penny here, a dime there, occasionally a quarter. Once, I actually found a five dollar bill. The other week, as what little snow we had was melting, I spotted a quarter in the mud near the path. Instantly, I was excited - it had been a long time (probably a couple of months) since I found any change. But before I slowed my pace to stop and pick up the quarter - I just kept walking; and I walked right past that twenty-five cents. Why?

To be honest, I think I was worried about what the ladies I had just passed would think about me stopping. Would they consider me a cheapskate? Would they look down on me because I pick change up off the ground? Would they assume that things were so tight at our house that walking was a source of income for me?

But ya know what? I think that sometimes, we treat Christ's call to the Kingdom like I treated that quarter. Whether it is the call to accept His salvation, the call to serve someplace we would never have chosen, or the call to love the unlovable -- it's easy to neglect the call. To maybe get excited initially, but then worry about what others will think. And for some awful, sin-nature reason, what other people think is important to us.

"As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to Him, 'The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.' And He said to another, 'Follow Me.' But he said, 'Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.' But He said to him, 'Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.' Another also said, 'I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.' But Jesus said to him, 'No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'" - Luke 9:57-62

That quarter is no longer in the mud by the path. Somebody else was lucky enough to spot it and smart enough to pick it up. The fact that I didn't pick up the quarter that day didn't cause us to miss a house payment or make us go one day without a meal. But not responding to the call of Christ is much more costly. It comes with an eternal cost. Let's not make the assumption of thinking that we'll have one more day to answer, one more day to serve, one more day to love. Because if I've been reminded of anything this past week, it's that we don't know how long we've got.

"'Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming . . . the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.'" - Matthew 24:42,44 

"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." - James 4:14