Just like I’ve done thousands of times before, I got out of my car this morning and began walking toward the door to my workplace.

This time something caught my eye, however. A fresh dent on the left front fender of my car — not too bad, but definitely visible. It was up higher than another car would have caused; it was perhaps done intentionally, perhaps not.

I may try to fix it myself, or I may just leave it alone to avoid making it look worse. It’s not that big a deal in the big scope of things.

After I got inside the building to begin my work for the day, I remembered what I had just been listening to on the radio before parking my car. Chuck Swindoll had been teaching on the book of Ecclesiastes; this morning’s topic dealt with the folly of riches.

He gave an illustration of a welder who was perfectly content in life because his concerns consisted of getting out of bed, going to work and welding whatever was put in front of him, going home and spending time with his family, watching TV, and going to bed. He didn’t have an abundance of wealth that he worried about losing.

I thought of Ecclesiastes 5:12: “Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.”

When I recalled the teaching on the radio, I remarked to myself how that verse in Ecclesiastes is indeed very true. I wasn’t really worried about another dent in my car because it’s 18 years old and already has other dents. What’s another small one? If I owned a brand new car, I’d be fretting about calling my insurance company, possibly filing a police report, etc.

Having an old car eliminates all that concern. Sometimes I lament that my car is not newer, but at times like this, it really is a sweet blessing.