Keep The Change?

My dad has been a traveling hardware salesman for most of my life.  He has driven thousands upon thousands of miles to sell hammers, nails, saws, and other hardware items to stores, who in turn will sell them to their customers.  It's an interesting work, and Dad is really good at it.

In my younger years, Dad told me about a store he visited on a regular basis in the lower part of South Carolina.  The guy who owned the store also ran the cash register.  Every time anyone bought something at that store, the owner rang up the item, took the customer's money, and asked, "Keep the change?"  Literally every time an item was sold he did this.  There was even a painted picture on the outside of the store with him standing by his cash register and asking, "Keep the change?"  The old guy did not mind asking at all for any spare change he could get.

Now, I have no clue how much money he collected over the years by asking this question.  But I'll tell you this:  He did benefit by asking. Asking paid off at least somewhat.  And he got more spare change than those cash register workers who did not ask for it.

Reflecting upon this reminds me of a Bible verse.  In Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you."  He was talking about praying to God over our needs.  And while this did not guarantee we will be granted every little desire we pray about, it does tell us that God provides what His children need.  Notice what Jesus instructed us to do:  "ask".

The old man at the cash register asked.  What did he have to lose?  There was no harm in asking.

Think about your needs right now.  They can be physical, emotional, mental, relational, financial, vocational, or spiritual.  What are your needs?  Why not go to God and ask Him to meet those needs?  Ask Him to provide for you.  What do you have to lose?  There is no harm in asking.  God is more than capable of coming through for you.  He can give you things far better than a few cents of spare change.  And He is your loving Heavenly Father who wants to take care of you.

The old man just asked.  Let's all go to God about our needs and do the same.  Let's ask Him and see what happens...