The Bargain of a Lifetime

"Give me your old for new." To some, the phrase is simply an excerpt from a favorite childhood fairy tale. However, many people feel that in real life, no one gets a desirable bargain if they give someone their old items in exchange for new items. The new items would have to be cheap, easily broken, quickly worn out, shoddy goods that no one would pay much for, anyway.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 ...They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

God delights in turning man's wisdom upside down, because that is exactly how His economy works. Our every encounter with Him finds us being encouraged to bring out our old, worn-out, broken things that don't work right, things that burn us or shock us or hurt us when we try to use them, and trade them in to the Lord in exchange for items of the finest material, highest quality workmanship, able to accomplish things we have only dreamed of experiencing.

Psalms 84:12 O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in You.

The initial trade, when we first accepted this strange, bewildering market approach, was unbelievable by anyone who used their brain. Why would the Creator of All invite someone like me who had actively worked against all that God stood for, to not only be pardoned from punishment but be freely given full rights and access to the privileges and benefits of a family member? When we accepted the offer, though, for whatever reason we did, we realized it was true.

We have each found out for ourselves the truth and reality of how wonderfully this whole thing works, but sometimes we stop at that first trade, starting to doubt again that the other offers we are being given could actually be true, as well. It worked once but, after all, how often could that kind of offer keep working out the way it sounds?

Psalms 84
v.5 Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
v.6 As they pass through the Valley of tears, they make it a place of springs....
v.7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

Those who "risk" the odds find out that there is more, and it is all as good, and even better, than we understood it to be. As we follow the hunger of our heart to be rid of the desperate loneliness in our lives, we find that God is willing to take our emptiness in trade for the constant companionship of the Comforter, who never leaves us or forsakes us, and He removes that void from our lives to the same place He put our sins -- where we can never again be bothered or troubled by them. The conditions of the trade are permanent, no allowance is made for taking back what we traded away; besides, what we received comes with a lifetime warranty guaranteed against breakage or loss or failure to perform as promised.

Jeremiah 24
v.6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
v.7 I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.

As we grow in response to the fellowship and acceptance we now live in, we find that not everything we carry around with us is a good fit. Some of the old things we still have poke us with sharp corners or rub painfully as we try to enjoy the new relationships that have come into our lives. These things, too, have trades offered, if we are interested. Sometimes we are simply too accustomed to these old, rickety things that it takes a while for us to consider the possibility of giving them up. But there usually comes a time when it hurts us enough that we are finally willing to see what God will give us in exchange.

Psalm 84
v.10 Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
v.11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

God is never in a hurry. He is patient and will wait as long as we need Him to. After all, we are the ones who start becoming uncomfortable with the way the works of the flesh conflict with the new life we have found and enjoy. Any time we are ready, God will gladly accept in trade our judgmental, critical attitude for His spirit of acceptance and encouragement. He has a wonderful spirit of joy that He will happily give us in exchange for our sorrow and melancholy. Any time we decide that the spirit of fear and anxiety no longer goes well with the robes of righteousness we were given to wear, God will allow us to accessorize our outfit with serenity, calmness, and peace which so perfectly matches our new regalia. If we find that a haughty or proud look no fits because our head is no longer swollen, He will gladly take it off our hands and give us an humble and contrite spirit that makes it easier for us to bow before Him on bended knee to give rich and deserved praise to Him who is above all.

2 Thessalonians 2
v.16 May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
v.17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Our Father is never critical of or impatient with us; His love endures, never wavering. Turn to Him if you find something lingering that you would like to trade in for a better result. He has operators standing by.

Blessed God and loving Father, thank You for staying involved in our lives, Lord. You always know where we are in our walk and in our growth, and because You love us, You know how we feel, what we like and what is bothering us at any given time. From Your boundless resources You give us freely just what we need and we accept Your gifts in the spirit with which You offer them -- exuberant joy and boundless gladness that we can walk a little closer together with You after each trade we make. We thank you, Lord, and give You praise that we will come fully equipped and properly attired to the wedding feast of Your Son.

3J14W10O