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Getting More Than We Deserve
A man and his daughter make their way to the "Trading Post." Here people present their goods in exchange for what they really need.
These two have a donkey cart full of apples. However, the daughter notices something about those applies. They were rotten. They weren't edible.
She asks her father, "Will they trade for rotten apples at the Trading Post?"
He answered, "I don't know, but this is the best we can offer."
All that they had available to trade for what would keep them alive was garbage. The farmer knew they would return with nothing but those same rotten apples.
As they approached the trading post, they notice farmer after farmer with barrels of rotten goods. Nothing they produced could be used. All of it was garbage. But they were still in line.
Each one of them went before the Trading Post and walked away with what they needed. Each farmer had tears of joy as they walked away.
Was this businessman exchanging worthwhile goods for garbage? The farmer and his daughter got closer. His little girl noticed another man who was trading his goods for the rotten produce. People would visit him and he would look at what their carts held. Then he would take it.
The farmer was about to visit the Trading Post when this man stopped him.
"Let me see what you have in that cart. It's rotten! That man won't give anything for rotten goods. Let me help you. I will exchange my wonderfully ripe apples for the rubbish you have in your cart. That way, when you see the merchant, he will give you wonderful things in exchange. He will prolong your life."
I think you see where this story is going. It's an object lesson. It's a lesson very similar to what is shared with children in Sunday School or in one of our Children's Sermons. The object lesson ties that gentleman with the perfectly ripe apples to our Lord Jesus.
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We're the farmer and his daughter. We're the ones who can produce only rotten sins.
And because of those sins, we deserve to be cast from the presence of our Lord God. We have nothing good to present. But there is a crossroads where the rotten sins are exchanged for the perfect actions of our Lord Jesus.
That crossroad is the cross where our Lord Jesus exchanged our sins for his righteousness. He suffered and died so that when we stand before our perfect and holy Lord God, he doesn't see us as the sinners we are but as saints, holy and blameless. This is only because Jesus has clothed us with his righteousness.
A verse that correlates to this point is in 2 Corinthians 5:21. It's a verse we want to store in our memories. It says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God."
This summary of God's Great Exchange is what we want to leave with visitors to our congregation. It's the message that we, at the very least, want to share with our classmates, neighbors, and coworkers. It's the message that our church will teach to a number of visitors this summer.
If you are someone who doesn't always know how to start a spiritual conversation or where to take it, use this month's devotion. Use the object lessons we have in the Children's Sermons in church.
While they are written mainly for those growing blessings to parents, they are also simple weekly messages for all the people of our congregation to take home with the goal of sharing something similar with their loved ones and to have a ready resource when opportunities for sharing God's Word with others arise.
For our events this summer, the Trading Post devotion will be referenced and used with outsiders. It will not only be used by your pastor, but I hope and pray that you'll use it, too.
We have children and families coming into our building this summer with VBS and A.C.E We don't know how the Lord is going to bless these activities, but we do know that we're going to have the opportunities to share Jesus with others. May God bless our efforts and each of us as tell God's Great Exchange among our friends and neighbors!
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