8-9-2016

Good Morning All!! 

Mark 8:37; “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” 

      I am a clunker kind of guy.  I will take a vehicle and run it until it dies.  It usually ends up in the trees somewhere.  There is always the plan to scrap it or sell it but it usually just sits there.  Nobody wants them; not even my neighbor who is worse than I am, wants them.  It makes it tough to trade for a different vehicle.

    We go through things like that.  We have something that has no value and we would like to trade for something of value but what do we have to offer?  We rarely ever get anything for it.  The only way is if someone feels sorry for us.  Maybe, somewhere in you past, you played Monopoly with a much younger child and you traded with him a property of value for something that he had that wasn’t so good.  You may have even let him win.  Sometimes as parents we do that.

    Our verse asks the question, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  This is a very loaded question.  What would you give?  Most of us think in terms of the clunker; I would trade anything for my soul but what I have is of no value.  What I have is worthless so I guess I am just a duck out of luck.  What will I give for my soul?

    The answer is I will give my sins for my soul.  This is what we call the “happy exchange”.  Jesus gave his life to earn our redemption.  He then turns around and gives it to us.  He takes our sins, our pains, our shortcomings and shortfalls, the times when we failed God.  Jesus takes them from us and carries them on his back to the cross on Calvary.  He takes our sins and gives to us his righteousness.  We get to clothe ourselves in his righteous cloak and he stands naked with our sins.  He takes the wrath and we take the blessing.

     This really isn’t a fair deal; we come out way, way ahead.  Yet it is the deal that a loving, gracious Father gives to us.  We exchange our sins for Christ’s righteousness.  With that righteousness we have eternal life; we have a soul to live in everlasting joy and glory.  What would you give for your soul?  How about giving up on your sinful life, your sinful pride and the belief that you can do it by yourself?  How about giving up your foolish, selfish arrogance and submitting, humbly, to God’s mercy?

     When we view it that way, we really have something to trade.  Fortunately for us, we have a loving God who takes all sorts of body types in trade.  They can be as worn out as you can imagine and yet God will gladly take them in and give you a perfect cloak of righteousness.  The only thing you have to lose is something that is worthless anyway, trade it to God.  Trust in his promise and receive his blessings; it is the best deal you can get.

Dear Father, you give to us freely the hard earned gift of redemption.  Give us the strength to cling to that promise and to hold fast to your grace.  Protect those who are in need of your comfort and consolation.  Use us to bring this to them in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret