I love collecting. Started with mystery books as a preteen. Most I never read until much later in life. Just loved gathering all those tomes. Had the complete set of Hardy Boys mysteries. Even read the first few. Whoop-de-doo for me!

Then as a teen, it was coin collecting. Numismatics to be technical. I loved attending coin shows, checking out local dealers, and making the monthly meetings of the Essex County NJ Coin Club. I had a neighbor who helped me more than I can say. His collection was first-rate. Mine was not.

In time, I owned a few gold coins, even a 1928 $20 gold piece designed by Augustus St. Gaudens. Nary a bag mark was ever found on its soft, lustrous surface. Pristine and shimmering. I also had US Large cents, Half cents, Two cents, 3-cent silver and nickel coins, 20-cent pieces, and all the Lincoln head pennies including the coveted 1909S-VDB, though in a rather beat-up condition.

Reading Psalm 56, I note that God collects precious items. Really? Read Psalm 56: 8–‘You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?’

When we toss and turn in life, have a bear of a time trying to sleep, wondering how in the world we’re to dig out of the mess we find ourselves in, that’s when God wants us to know that every tear we shed He keeps tabs of, even storing them in some bottle of His own, so to speak. As if He records in a book, like a divine diary, every sigh and whimper we make. All are kept and noted.

God’s bottle and book symbolize that He’s mindful of every aspect of our lives. When I feel out-of-sorts, when no one seems to give a flying fig about me, when fears grab hold like the grip of a weightlifter, I try to remember that my tears are in His bottle; and my emotions, each and every one, are inscribed in His book. That I’m the world to Him. He cares. He’s crazy about me. And you too.

Hold onto that thought, as best you can, all this week. Noted and kept close to your heart just as we are to Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving me with all your heart. Amen.