the bride's coin

Find a penny
pick it up
all day long
you'll have good luck.

Honestly...
do you?
I don't.

If I see a penny on the ground,
I won't stop to pick it up.

Sadly, I don't find
that much value in the coin.
And second to that,
"luck" only favors the prepared.

So what's the point?
Which leads me to why
I never really understood
what all that fuss was about
when that woman in the Bible story
lost a coin and then
turned her whole house upside down
trying to find it.

It wasn't necessarily
a true story, but rather
a parable which Jesus told.

Not to say,
that it couldn't have been true...

Or what woman,
having ten silver coins,
if she loses one coin,
does not light a lamp,
sweep the house, and
search carefully until she finds it?

And when she has found it,
she calls her friends and
neighbors together, saying,
‘Rejoice with me,
for I have found the piece which I lost!’
Likewise, I say to you,
there is joy in the presence
of the angels of God over
one sinner who repents.
Luke 15:8-10 NKJV

I used to just think
that I either didn't grasp
the value of that silver coin
from the time period.
Or that the woman
simply must have been so poor
that I couldn't relate.

But after a bit of research
I've found that neither of these
is a necessary contemplation.

And the key to it all
was found in this clue...
ten silver coins.

For why did Jesus use
that number of coins?
It had to be significant?

Well, it seems that when
a woman of Jesus' day
was betrothed, the dowry given
by her family was to be ten coins.
They were bound to a headpiece
worn as a band across the forehead
to show that she was engaged.

This too, was to be her property
even after marriage,
and did not belong to her husband.

Now if she lost the headband
or any of the coins,
it could obviously mean
that she had less to count on
should she ever be left on her own.

But being one coin short
might also cause
her husband to suspect her
of wrongfully spending it
without his prior approval.

Unfortunately, divorce in those days
was heavily in favor of the man
and gave no voice, nor resolution
to the woman.

Although we know not her husband,
it would seem that
this woman could not afford
being shamed, ridiculed or
spurned by society over
one lost coin.

To her, was well worth turning over
the house to find that coin
​to keep her dowry intact.

For the coin meant
security, peace, restoration,
and belonging to her.

It kept her in a home
and helped to secure her future.

And this the comparison
Jesus gave...
this coin was valuable
to the woman as part of a set.
It belonged on the headband,
a space reserved just for it
to be sewn back on.

And any of us
who are lost to this world
and far from Jesus
are just as precious to Him.

He will tear apart the house
if He has to, shining His light,
making a sure sweep of all darkness,
carefully calling and searching still.

For He has a place
reserved for each of us.
We all belong with Him.
We are His bride,
whom He paid a high price to redeem.
And He longs to give each of us
security, peace, restoration,
and belonging that only comes freely
through His grace and favor.

For when the coin is found
it's not luck to the one
who picked it up,
but rather...
joy in the presence
of the angels of God over
one sinner who repents.

Word of God
train me today...
To shine the light
You have placed in me,
that I may be part of the search party
looking for lost coins.

To never neglect
​understanding anyone's plight
​in search for what they have lost.