A Penny For Your Thoughts

The origin of this particular idiom is not known. As with many such sayings, no one is exactly sure who first said “a penny for your thoughts,” or when. A quick search on the internet provides the following information: In 1522, Sir Thomas More’s book Four Last Things was published posthumously. It was a book of meditations on death, God’s judgement, pain, and how to combat “spiritual diseases.” Here is a quote from that book which, so far as we know, is the first published use of the phrase: “As it often happeth that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that, not without some note and reproach of such vagrant mind, other folk suddenly say to them, ‘A penny for your thought.’” Thus, a man desiring to obtain information from some wise old sage would offer the man money for his thoughts. The best I can gather, the saying did not gain widespread popularity until after 1547. One thing that struck me in the use of the phrase is that he who desired information from him who had the wisdom was not willing to pay all that much; and with today’s inflation, the bounty is worth even less.

If men would be willing to give “a penny” for the thoughts of others, what might they be willing to give so as to obtain the thoughts of the very One Who created the universe? How much would you be willing to pay to obtain insight into the questions that God asked Job, for example; which questions, to a large degree, remain unanswered even to this day. “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it?” (Job 38:4). It is impossible for men to know the origin of this universe separate and apart from divine revelation. “Or who shut up the sea with the doors, When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb...And marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?” (Job 38:8, 10-11). Who can explain why the ocean, even at high tide, cannot go beyond the invisible bounds that restrict its overwhelming floods upon inhabited humanity? “Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?” (Job 38:16). Only in the last century have men been able to map the depths of sea with its mountains and valleys; and yet they have only scratched the surface (no pun intended). “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof, That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?” (Job 38:19-20). God was asking Job, “Where does light come from? Job, can you map out the path to the storehouse of light?”  God goes on to ask Job, “By what way is the light parted, Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?” (Job 38:24). Then, as if to mount question upon question, God inquires of Job, “Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood?” (38:25), or caused it to “rain on a land where no man is” (38:26). What about the “treasures of the snow” (38:22), or the “hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?” (38:29). The questions continue until Job was compelled to reply: “Jehovah, Behold I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, and I will not answer; Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further” (40:3-5). A penny for God’s thoughts? Oh, beloved, God’s thoughts are worth so much more; so much, in fact, that all the banks and financial institutions on the face of this terrestrial globe could not, with their storehouses of currency, gold and silver combined, purchase such knowledge.

While the answers to the questions that God asked Job would be worth any price we might be willing to pay, the divine revelation regarding man’s salvation is worth even more. God’s eternal scheme of redemption was “purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” before times eternal (Eph. 3:11), even before the “foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). That revelation “was not made known unto the sons of men” prior to the coming of Christ. It was only by revelation that the “mystery of Christ” was made known “unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Eph. 3:8). “Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). These were things that “angels desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:12); things for which the “prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you” (1 Pet. 1:10). A “penny for your thoughts?” Oh, ten thousand times more; yea thousands of thousands of times more! So valuable are the “thoughts” of God that the Psalmist was compelled to write (by divine inspiration I might add), “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb” (Psa. 19:10).

Now, here is the astonishing thing about the wonderful thoughts of God: they are FREE for the taking! Every chapter of every book of the Bible contains a rich storehouse of information. Every word, when read, studied and applied, represents a vast heavenly deposit into the lives of those who would drink deeply from its contents. And it is all free for the taking.

Next time you ask me, “A penny for your thoughts,” keep this in mind: If it’s a penny for my thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny.

by Tom Wacaster