I run a pawn shop. You see a lot of sadness here. A kid, maybe 12, came in with a guitar. It was a cheap acoustic, scratched up.
“How much?” he asked. “I need to buy my mom a birthday present.” I looked at the guitar. It was worth maybe $10.
“Play me something,” I said. He played. He wasn’t great, but he had heart. He closed his eyes and strummed. “You know,” I said, scratching my beard. “That’s a rare model. vintage wood.”
“It is?” “Yeah. I can give you $50 for it. But on one condition.”
“What?” “You can’t sell it. You have to keep it here on ‘loan’ and come practice on it twice a week. If you don’t practice, the deal is off.” He took the $50.
He bought his mom a necklace. He comes in every Tuesday and Thursday. He’s getting better. I’m not buying a guitar. I’m investing in a musician.
My Commentary:
This story is about much more than a guitar. It is about seeing potential where others might see only limitations.
The young boy walked into the pawn shop hoping to sell his battered guitar so he could buy his mother a birthday present. The guitar was scratched, inexpensive, and worth very little. But the shop owner noticed something that could not be measured in dollars. He noticed heart.
When the boy played, he did not hear perfection. He heard possibility. So instead of buying the guitar, he invested in the child. He gave him enough money to honor his mother while making sure the guitar — and the dream it represented — stayed in his life.
This is exactly how God looks at each one of us. The world often judges people by what they have accomplished, how talented they are, or what they own. God looks deeper. God sees not only who we are today, but who we can become. Jesus saw a great apostle in an impulsive fisherman named Peter. He saw an evangelist in a woman with a troubled past. Jesus saw saints where others saw only ordinary people.
That is grace. Grace looks beyond present circumstances and believes in future possibilities.
The pawn shop owner also understood another important truth. Encouragement is one of the greatest gifts we can give another person. Sometimes all it takes is one person who believes in us before we believe in ourselves.
The boy thought he was giving up his guitar. Instead, he gained a mentor. The owner thought he was helping a child. In reality, he may have changed the direction of a life.
Every day we meet people who are struggling, uncertain, or discouraged. Like the shop owner, we have a choice. We can see only what they are today, or we can see what, with God’s grace, they might become.
God has always been in the business of investing in people. Perhaps God asks us to do the same.
Who invested in YOU to help you become the person you are today? Besides family members, who have YOU invested in?
BE USED BY GOD, NOT BY PEOPLE!!
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