The Coin Collector

           My Father was a coin collector and so am I. He got me interested in it in my early 20's and I still have some of it here and there. I would get my pay check and take five dollars and go to the bank and get ten rolls of pennies. I would take them home, look through them and then roll them back up, take them to a different bank, cash them in to get the five dollars back and go to a third bank to get ten more rolls of pennies. Every now and then I would find a penny that was just a tad rare but they were few and far between. I think it was the hunt for something rare that kept me looking. I always checked the change in my pocket to find if there was a “wheat” penny or perhaps a 1950-D nickel. I ended up purchasing that particular nickel in order to complete my Jefferson nickel collection at the time, but only after years of looking for one in roll after roll of nickels. The odds of finding a rare coin are pretty but it was something to look for and every now and then something might turn up such as the man who got two uncirculated pennies in change one day, one of them being an uncirculated Indian head penny, which was very, very rare indeed. Matthew 17:27 says, “ Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."

       Talk about rare catches. I never experienced anything like this. The only thing I ever found in a fish's mouth was either my hook or a piece of another fish, but never a coin. In this account, it isn't just any fish, but the first one that comes up on the hook and then to open the mouth of the fish and find enough money to pay the required tax for both Peter and Jesus was a rare find indeed. The most prominent way of the fishermen was using the net as you would have more of a chance of getting a larger catch than using a hook. The hook would only accommodate one fish at a time. The first one caught on that day had the money in it's mouth. The lessons for us include, “Whatever God says, do it.” Secondly, God provides in ways that are above the ways of mankind in all cases. Our inclination at this point is to go out, get a fishing rod, and try to pay off our bills. That is not going to work, however, Philippians 4:13 will work and Ephesians 2:8-10 will work and Acts 16:31 will work. The promises that are given in god's word will work because it is God that said it and those promises are for us. I could see Peter grumbling just a little as he goes out to cast for that one fish, the first fish, with money in its mouth. I have to admit that I would be just a tad skeptical about that venture. My ways are not God's ways and divine intervention is always a surprise even when I don't expect it to happen to me. Perhaps you are wondering how you are going to do something today or in the near future. There just might be a task that seems to be overwhelming right now or a physical condition that seems unbearable. Put your faith in the One Who could control a fish with money in its mouth to still bite on a simple hook just because God said so. Praise God today for His great power.