Mike Tune recently shared a unique way that a mother sought to influence her son to do the right thing:

Barry Black grew up on the streets of Baltimore, the son of a devoutly religious mother.  She paid her children a nickel a verse for every passage of scripture they committed to memory and Barry quickly learned to game the system.  He began looking for the shortest verses in the Bible (“low hanging fruit” he calls them).  There was “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).  Then “Rejoice evermore” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).  Then “Remember Lot’s Wife” (Luke 17:32) and “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Barry found two for one specials.  “Do not kill” was Exodus 20:13, but also Deuteronomy 5:17.  Learn it once, get paid twice.  Barry’s mother knew what he was doing, but she also knew what she was doing.  In order to find those verses, Barry had to make his way through the Bible.  Eventually, his mother capped what she would pay to a quarter a week (five verses), and eventually, Barry found greater value than a nickel a verse.

One afternoon in his 13th year, young Barry was invited by some friends to join them in taking revenge on a common nemesis.  Barry remembered Proverbs 1:10-16 and refused, choosing to stay far away from those “friends.”

“My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent…
for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.”
(Proverbs 1:10-16)

The revenge went horribly wrong, and a boy died.  The others were charged and convicted of murder.  “That would have been me” Barry says, “had I not remembered the proverb” and taken it to heart.

Today Barry is the Chaplain of the United States Senate and as I listened to him a few days ago (his speech peppered with scripture) I thought: That’s what David meant when he wrote: “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).*

God’s Word in our hearts is not only a preventative to sin, it is also the prescription for salvation.  The reality is, despite our very best efforts, we all “sin and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  Sometimes, we fall “way short.”

But the Good News (the Gospel) is that God loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).  “But God commends His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The Good News of Scripture is that God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, as we walk in the light of His Word – recognizing the true value of Scripture as Barry did – then God will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9).

If someone promised to pay you a nickel a verse, would you memorize some Scriptures?  If so, my prayer is that you’ll learn the true value of Scripture: to help keep you from sin but also to bring you to Jesus for salvation.

-- David A. Sargent

* “A Nickel A Verse” by Mike Tune, Falls Church Church of Christ, Falls Church, Virginia, shared in PreacherStuff, Dr. Dan Williams, editor, Harding University.  12/5/2019.

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

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