Got one yet? If you do, you probably received it in a handful of change. At first glimpse, you mistakenly thought it was a quarter, then you realized you were the privileged possessor of the new presidential dollar coin.
Bob WeathersThey’re not exactly round and slightly gold in color, and the U.S. Mint will issue four of these presidential commemorative dollars each year, in the order that each president served. So the coin you’re holding likely bears the distinctive image of George Washington. But what about that crucial inscription, “In God We Trust”? Don’t see it? Don’t fret. It is engraved along the edge. That’s right. Hold it up to the light just right and look along the dollar’s rim and you can read the words.
On the other hand, if your particular dollar lacks these words, it is not because the U.S. Mint is unfolding some evil conspiracy to erase God from our money. Instead, well, it just happens that they goofed. About 50,000 times, they think. It seems that is how many of the coins were printed without the inscription.
But if yours lacks the inscription, rather than get huffy with the U.S. Mint, you should smile. Why? Because the flawed coins are worth more than the flawless. Don’t believe me? Visit eBay this week and you will blink twice when you see the value of the blemished presidential dollar coins. Some are going for $300. And, depending on their condition, others are fetching up to $1,500.
Now, isn’t that strange? Where else but in coin collecting would the defective ones be worth more than the ones that are considered perfect?
Imperfect, but priceless. That’s God’s economy, of course. All people are faulty printings of the original design. Flawed, sinful, defective. But God makes it his mission to hunt down, find, and fix these defective ones. He values them. Loves them.
Jesus said it was his assignment to “seek and to save that which was lost,” and even portrayed God’s hunt for lost people as a hunt for a lost coin (Luke 19:10; 15:8-10).
Here’s the thing. You and I are not good enough for God. But that doesn’t mean we are not valuable to God. Priceless in fact. Collectible.
Now smile again. God’s looking for you.