WHEN I was a boy I was sometimes given a penny to spend, and in those days
that was a considerable sum of money to a child.
The village sweet shop offered quite a range of good things to the possessor of
a penny. Some of the finest sweets were displayed on the shelves in attractive
glass jars, being clearly marked. 'Four ounces for one penny'. If you wanted
greater variety for your money, you could buy four separate packets of goodies,
priced at one farthing each. It was quite a serious business spending that
Saturday allowance. They were exciting days even though most people had so
little of this world's goods.
I well remember my father earning the princely sum of eighteen shillings a week. The weekly rent of the little house was seven shillings, and my mother had to do a part-time job to help meet the cost of running the home. Yet we were happy together and we never seemed to lack anything. My parents must have managed home affairs carefully and wisely.
Today we live in a so-called affluent age. Sometimes I wonder if the greedy, money-grabbing folk are really any better off. They are constantly asking for more and with the largest pay packets men have ever received, they remain utterly dissatisfied. Someday they will discover with one of old, that all this is but vanity and vexation of spirit. It seems to me that even the most educated of men have not yet discovered that 'Godliness with contentment is great gain'. True and lasting satisfaction has never been found, or ever will be found, in things or possessions.
“Now none bur Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me.
There's love and life and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus found in Thee".
On the particular Saturday of my story, I spent quite a long time pressing my
nose against the shop window, trying to make up my mind how to spend my money.
At last, for obvious reasons, I decided to spend the whole penny on some rather
large, delightful looking creamy toffees. The shop door was not too easy to
open. It appeared to stick somewhat at the bottom. After a tremendous push, it
opened with such a jerk that I was always surprised the door did not fall down.
On the inside of the door, right at the top, was a rounded steel bracket to
which was attached a large bell. This would be jolted into such terrific and
prolonged action, it sounded as if the Fire engine was on its way. I always
thought it was designed to wake the dead. At any rate it always roused the
little old lady who owned the shop, and she was always waiting in the back
parlour for would-be customers. She wore a red shawl over her shoulders.
Her glasses were poised on the tip of her nose. Her manner was generally surly.
I never saw her smile, neither did she say one word more than was necessary and
I always felt that she had a special dislike of little boys.
She would look down at you from behind the counter and say. "Well". I was never quite sure whether she looked at you through her glasses or over them. Perhaps it was a bit of both. I pointed to the glass jar that contained the sweets I had chosen, and said, "I'll have a penny-worth of those please".
I watched with keen attention as she began to shake some sweets into the
scale. Would it happen or had I made a mistake. I smiled. I was sure it was
going as I had hoped. The scale went down quite sharply, indicating excellent
weight. The lady was not satisfied. She took one of the large sweets out of the
scale and to my delight the scale went slowly back to the top. That was exactly
what I had hoped would happen. My smile became broader. I thought, she has got
to put that sweet back. I'm going t o get bumper weight today. I've done a bit
of shrewd business here.
Now whether the little old lady had seen my cheeky smile, I shall never know,
but do you know what she did? She took a sweet from the scale and with a knife
chopped off the tiniest piece of toffee and threw it into the scale. The rest
went back in the glass jar.
The smile disappeared from my face. I thought she was the meanest person I had
ever met. I wonder sometimes if I ever forgave her, but of course, she was quite
right. She could not be expected to give little boys overweight. I got exactly
what I was entitled to and no one can complain at that.
Now I am older and have tasted of heaven's amazing grace, I sometimes compare
the action of that dear little lady with the indescribably magnanimity and
generosity of God. There is nothing meagre or niggardly about the divine Giver.
He always gives.” Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running
over". (Luke 6:38).
When the Lord gives us His Life, it is life more abundant. When He bestows His peace, it is peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:1). When we taste His joy, it is joy unspeakable and full of Glory (1 Peter 1:8). When Jesus answers prayer, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
When the prodigal son came home, the Father did not open a tin of Spam, he killed the fatted calf. When God forgave me my sins, He buried them, for ever, in the depth of the sea. "Who is a pardoning God like Thee or who has grace so rich and free?"