We know that the existence and use of currency dates back thousands of years, so far back, that it is a foreign concept for us to think of having to live without it. It is said that the first regulations as to governing money were set in Ancient Babylon. One source states that the Chinese were the first civilization to use standardized currency around 1000 B.C. Those who have read the Bible know, that money existed in the Old and the New Testaments as a means of purchasing items. The paying and exacting of taxes on one’s earnings was also discussed multiple times in scripture, which is what brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Years later we see Jesus as an adult, complying with a taxation and without justification, in Matthew 17:24-27 we read, “And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”
However, throughout time and even to this day, not everyone has enough money to ‘purchase’ all the things they may need or want. Thus, the act of bartering, negotiating, and trading was an alternate way of how you could obtain goods or services. If we were to delve deeply into a study on ancient cultures, we would see, that no matter what continent they were on, indigenous people used their possessions, goods, or services as currency. Having something that someone else really wanted or needed was key to getting what you needed. We have heard of the law of supply and demand. Investopedia states, “The law of supply and demand combines two fundamental economic principles describing how changes in the price of a resource, commodity, or product affect its supply and demand. As the price increases, supply rises while demand declines. Conversely, as the price drops supply constricts while demand grows.” This economic model is not a new concept. It has been around for centuries. If you have chickens and vegetables, and I have a handmade quilt that you may need, and I need food to feed my children, a trade can be made after negotiations have been made as to the perceived value of each product.
Old cowboy movies show how the hunter comes riding into the old dusty, rustic town which may only consist of a few buildings, with his cart and horse loaded down with animal hides. They trade these for a hot bath, drink, food, good night sleep and supplies for their next venture, and the cycle of their life continues along that line until death. That was their job, livelihood, and life. In turn the store owner would trade the pelts to others for assorted products or services. So on and so forth. This is in fact where Cain went wrong when offering up his sacrifice of vegetables to God that was not acceptable. It was not that the vegetables were bad, nor that it was not his best, nor that he had not worked hard for them, they just did not meet the requirements that God had already laid down. Had he traded his veggies for a lamb from his brother Abel’s flock, the story could have had a vastly different ending. The point being that there was no valid excuse for his behavior. The ‘supply and demand’ was available to him.
My husband and I have found out recently, or should I say we were reminded of this fact, that you cannot just get by with covering up something old with something new and expect the same results. It may look good for a time, but traces of the old will show its ugly face eventually. Last year we built a beautiful new deck on the back of our house. We tore down the old rotting one and took it to the dump, and then we decided to put in rock cover underneath as a final addition on the landscaping. There had been several types of plants, weeds, and grass growing in that area previously. We laid the landscaping tarp on the ground and proceeded to put the rocks in place. It was an arduous task of which my husband did ninety percent of the work, with me trying to assist, and the result was greatly rewarding. It looked great, and still does. However, as the year went on, grass and weeds began to peek their ugly heads up in between our beautiful rocks. We had thought that the tarp would smother and kill anything old that was underneath it, but we have learned, that though we are trying to spray weedkiller regularly now, to try to combat this issue from getting worse, we should have killed everything before putting down the new landscaping material. Hard lesson learned.
Everything in life has an expiration date, and I am the world’s worst at trying to save and be frugal. I try to use things until they are all gone, however, there are some things that just cannot be used past their shelf life. I have found this fact out about milk recently, because of the grandkids faces when presented chocolate ‘sour’ milk. Bless their hearts. They did try to tell me kindly that the milk tasted kind of funny. We just do not drink much milk anymore; therefore, it seems to go bad faster in our house. There are foods that go bad quickly as well, such as bananas, so they should be bought in smaller quantities more often, for us to enjoy them, and not waste our money. I have found this out about paints and stains as well. I try to keep the can for years on end, so that if there are any touch ups needed, we will have the proper match. However, there have been occasions where I have opened a can to just find it dry, or an ooey gooey, unusable mess. We know of course, or do we, that medicines have expiration dates. We may know in knowledge, but not always in deed. If we were wise, we would do a spring cleaning of the medicine cabinet every so often. If the medicine in the drawer is old, I suppose it is a good sign that you have not been sick for a while, and not had to finish off that medicine. This is another, more positive way to look at it I suppose.
I mentioned these things, because when things get old and worn out, we should replace them with new items. Not try to cover the old with the new or keep the old and new side by side as we often want to do. We could be labeled a ‘hoarder’ at some point if this were to continue for too long. The old needs to be traded for the new. Meaning the new takes the place of the old. Though people may say, “I’m not a hoarder, I’m a collector.” However, this is only true if you are in fact a trader also. Collectors will trade something that is valued less, for something that is of greater value, or if they have two of one item, for an item they do not yet have, with a negotiated price. Those who dabble in stamps, coins, baseball cards, or comic book collections, are familiar with this concept. Keep in mind, the cowboy could not hang onto all the pelts from his hunt and have the supplies he needed as well. He had to let go of them, use them as his currency to be able to continue onto his next hunt. You may be familiar with the expression, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” We must be willing to let go in order to move forward.
Jesus said in Matthew 9:16-17, “No man puts a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runs out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We take on a new nature when we are born again, and bury the old, dead nature of sin, aka we replace the old with the new. We are the wine skins, the vessels, which are being filled with the wine of the Holy Ghost, and we need to be new and in pristine condition. Paul teaches us in Ephesians 4:22-24, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Proverbs 11:22 says, “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.” There are just some things that cannot be covered up, and our old sinful nature is one of them. They must be traded for new.
Matthew 17:10-20 says, “And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defiles a man… Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man.” In Psalm 51:10 David said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Ezekiel 36:26tells us what God promised, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” And in2 Corinthians 3:2-3 we see this fulfilled, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
I recently took a communications course, to comply with my job requirements, and the professor shared a quote by Tom Geller, a writer and editor, which said, “Michael Angelo turned a block of marble into a statue of David, by removing the bits that didn’t look like David.” This is quite profound, yet an opposite approach to what we normally do, see, or hear. We so often want to try to fit the old into the new mold. But God wants to totally revamp and remake us. He wants to chip away at us and completely remove the pieces that do not look like His nature, until we become what He wants us to be. We are lively stones, laying aside the old, and being shaped into new by the hands of the Master. 1 Peter 2:1-5 says, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
God is an expert tradesman. The ‘supply and demand’ is at work in His economy. He has what we need, and he offers to trade our old rags and filthiness for His righteousness. This is a win, win proposition for us. It almost sounds too good to be true, but when we remember that his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts, we know it is not a scam or a fraud. Listen to what the Lord offers to trade with his people in Isaiah 61:1-7, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore, in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.” In Luke 4, Jesus read this passage in the temple, and in verse 21 he ends with this, “… This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” So, God trades all the ugliness and filthiness of our lives, ashes, mourning, our spirit of heaviness, our shame, and confusion, in exchange for the desirable, priceless commodities of beauty, anointing oil of joy, garments of praise, a double portion of abundance, restoration, and a heart of rejoicing in blessings, with those who are his children. What a great trade off! I would say we are getting the better end of this deal. Wouldn’t you agree? If you have not already, make that trade today, it is a win, win.