Hello, and welcome to our visit today. I started to call it a fireside chat, but that would be getting ahead of the cooler weather we’re supposed to wake up to tomorrow. Today is Friday, October 16, 2026, and I am thankful to still be breathing air on the planet. Don’t get me wrong. I look forward to the day I arrive at my long-awaited heavenly home, but I still have things to do here in this life.
The expression “a penny for your thoughts” dates back to the English statesman Sir Thomas More in 1522. I believe I heard it a few times when I was accused of daydreaming. Adjusted for today, that penny’s value has been estimated at $5.50. But saying, “$5.50 for your thoughts” doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?
Some believe the expression “give my two cents’ worth” is somehow linked to “a penny for your thoughts.” If so, I guess we could invite someone to give us their $11 opinion.
As for the United States penny, we know it is no longer being minted. Spending 3.69 cents to make one penny no longer makes any sense—or cents—at all, especially when that penny is worth just $0.01. My apologies to whoever came up with this jewel: “That’s going to cost a pretty penny.” Ha!
I hasten to add that a minted penny can be quite valuable if a mistake is made during production. A 1943-D Lincoln bronze penny sold for $1.7 million in a private sale in 2010. Now, that really is a pretty penny!
I’ll leave you with this one because it more or less defines my journey thus far: “Always late and a penny short.”
I congratulate all those who have made it to the end of their workweek. Looking forward to “the weekend” is a time-honored tradition in our country. I’ve mentioned many times that, during most of my years in the workforce, Friday typically meant only one thing to me: It was the day before Saturday. Meaning? I worked many Saturdays. I did. I really did. And too many Sundays. Way too many.
At the same time, I am very much aware of how eagerly people anticipate the freedom of Saturday and Sunday. No alarm clocks. Get up when you want to. Go where you want to go. Sure. If only!
If I had it to do over, I would have spent more time with my wife and boys. I would have. I really would have. One thing I rarely neglected, however, was gathering with God’s people on Sunday at the place where our local assembly met.
I may sound like a broken record, but I offer this advice to those still pounding the pavement in their jobs: Your life, my life, and the life of every man, woman, and child are in the hands of our Sovereign God. We all need to take that truth seriously. Put God first, not just on Sunday, but every minute of every day. Make Him first. Plan your life around your relationship with Him.
That means starting each week on Sunday by meeting together to hear from God as His Word is shared and to build one another up in the faith. We then spend the rest of the week working hard, pursuing activities, and raising our families, while continuing to seek Him through His Word for direction and provision.
That is my simple way of describing a life in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the Three in One, our God—comes first.
Okay. There you have my take for today. Yep. At 80, I do tend to go on and on. However, this truth is important for us all. It is. It really is. Amen.
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