“Wow! What a rare penny this must be!” At 13 years of age, I sat looking at the quickly growing coin collection before me. Most of these rare coins had been given to me by various people, and I had compiled them into one rather impressive collection. But here before me was truly my rarest gem. I sat before a pile of blue coin books that contained page after page of copper pennies. In my hand was a 1943 penny that looked totally different than any other penny I had; you see, it was a steel penny. Right next to it was a rather normal looking 1943 copper penny, but my full attention was on that strange silver looking penny. “This will certainly make me a fortune!” I thought as I imagined having the money to buy my first Nintendo system with Super Mario Brothers.

I began searching through a price guide with a friend to see just what kind of gold mine I was sitting on. He turned the page, and there was a picture of that rare 1943 steel penny that I felt was surely one of only a handful existing. Then, the drum roll . . . what was this penny going to be worth? How many Nintendos would I be able to buy? How many hundreds of games would I be able to afford? When my finger hit the estimated value, my heart sank. The estimated value of that wonderful, rare, gem of a coin was . . . are you ready for this? The value was $00.01! Can you imagine my devastation?! I thought it was going to make me my first million, or at least close to that. I had clutched that 1943 steel penny like it was everything only to find that it was nothing.

Have you ever done something like that in life? Have you ever held tightly to something thinking it was precious, only to find it was really meaningless? Many times we place the wrong value on things and blindly hold on to them like we would die without them. Well, back to my story.

A friend down the street (one who just happened to own a Nintendo with Super Mario Brothers) asked if he could look at my coin collection. He seemed mildly interested as he flipped through page after page of pennies. I should probably tell you that he was the bookworm type who seemed to know every scientific and historical fact written. “I’ll buy it from you for $50.00,” he said out of nowhere. I thought, “well that’s a lot closer to a Nintendo than I am now, “Sure!” Just like that, the deal was done. Without more than a few seconds of thinking I had made the decision to depart with my coin collection that seemed to bring little more than disappointment. It didn’t bother me a bit that I had quickly and carelessly sold away a collection that was put together by several people who cared for me. I thought it could at least be used as a means to get what I really want.

I said it didn’t bother me a bit, and it didn’t . . . until something unusual happened. Sitting on my bed, I had a comic book spread in front of me as I followed the adventures of some unrealistic super hero when something caught my eye. I turned the page and right in front of me, larger than life, was a picture of a 1943 copper penny. I thought to myself, “Hey, I used to own one of those. Let’s see what it says.” I don’t remember the exact words of the article, but the following will suffice as a decent paraphrase: “If you currently own a 1943 copper penny in your coin collection, hold on to it! It may surprise you to know that that little coin is worth up to $5,000.00!” My heart sank. I remember the feeling of blood rushing to my face. “WHAT HAVE I DONE?!!!” I had no idea that Mr. Nerdy-historically-smart-boy down the street knew he was ripping me off. (During World War II, copper was scarce as it was needed for the production of bullets, soooooooo guess what they made almost all of the pennies out of that year? Good guess, steel. A very small percentage of pennies were made in 1943 out of copper causing their value to sky rocket. For some reason, I don’t remember that lesson in history?)

Can you imagine how I felt that day? I tried to think back to the occurrence, and this is what I came up with:

• I felt ignorant for holding on to something valueless (the steel penny), while the whole time I was ignoring something that was truly valuable (the copper penny).
• I felt foolish for selling something so valuable for such a cheap thrill. (Nintendo)
• I felt deceived having been tricked into giving up something which had value I was totally unaware of.
• I felt silly for not taking longer to research and think about my decision before I quickly threw it away.
• I felt deep remorse that I had made a mistake I would never be able to change.

I still remember stalking that kid down the block until I found him and begged him to give me my penny back. As you can imagine, no such luck. Because of my own foolishness, ignorance and haste, I had lost something of great value that I would never be able to regain.

So many, many teens make the same mistake I made. You may say, “Phil, I don’t even own a coin collection!” Most of you may not; however, you have something of far greater value; namely, your purity. The mistake many teens have made is to underestimate the value of precious purity. Strangely, most teens think highly of the opportunity to fool around, and lightly of the opportunity to get married with their precious purity. I picture you holding tightly to the steel pennies of kissing, embracing, and physical pleasure, while carelessly and thoughtlessly giving the devil your copper penny of precious purity. Perhaps as I blindly looked to the brief satisfaction of buying a Nintendo, you are blindly focused on the temporal pleasures of a physical relationship with the opposite sex. The key word is “blind.” Your focus is so fixed on the immediate enjoyment” that you’re ignoring that which has true value under your nose.

You realize, No doubt, when I was looking in the price guide, I was only inches away from discovering the true value of my 1943 copper penny. Many of you are choosing right now whether you will sell off your purity as a worthless thing or hold on to it as a treasure. I want to encourage you not to make a snap decision as I made. Some decisions in life are reversible; some are irreversible. Purity is not something you can lose and regain.

A little girl asked her daddy as he held her, “Will you pick that flower for me?” With the greatest ease, he reached down and with a single swift movement he plucked the flower and presented it to his admiring daughter. He wasn’t ready for her next request. With the same confidence in her eyes and voice, she said, “Now, put it back the same.” He felt great frustration as he struggled to explain to his daughter that some things are easy to do but impossible to undo. Never forget, your purity is very easy to lose, but entirely impossible to regain. If you want to lose your purity, the devil will make it very easy to do. Why? He knows once it’s done, there’s no turning back.

Has the devil tricked you into believing that you can’t live without your physical relationship? Are you afraid if you won’t “go with the flow” your relationship won’t work? Are you trying to hold on to someone through the bondage of the guilt that comes with a premarital physical relationship? If you buy into these lies, you will be blind to the value of your purity. II Peter 1:5 says to “add to your faith virtue.” Virtue is nothing more than moral excellence; which would include physical purity. Later on, the Bible goes on to say that he that lacks virtue “is blind, and cannot see afar off . . .” Don’t let the devil work you over and trick you out of your purity as that kid down the street did with me. The devil will offer some temporary thrill, but you will regret your decision. Some day you will look back and realize what a fool you have been.

Stop and take a look again at the bullets above. Compare each one with trading your purity (copper penny) for temporary pleasure (steel penny). My main objective in this edition of THE V.O.I.C.E. is to remind you of how precious your purity is. There is a whole world of young people out there who would give anything to get their purity back, but it is too late. Don’t join that group. Instead, embark on an adventure with me for the next few weeks on the subject of purity. We’ll get into more detail and more Bible help as the series progresses. We have not even begun to define Biblical purity, but I simply want you to decide now that you won’t trade your purity for anything. Don’t be fooled by Satan’s steel pennies. Hold out for God’s richest blessings. The following are some topics we’ll discuss:

• The Pressure On Purity
• The Power Of Purity
• The Principles Of Purity
• The Prize Of Purity
• The Potential Of Purity

See you all next week. I look forward to hearing from THE GALLERY.