Medium of Exchange

Our son Jamie said he had already taken us to everything in Houston, so now he was taking us to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Ft. Worth, Texas. All was very enlightening about how our paper money is made. The display outlined several criteria for money:

1) Easily carried or portable. 2) Durable. 3) Attractive or desirable. 4) Backed by a government or authority that it is "legal tender." 

Several parallels between money, or medium of exchange, and our salvation occurred to me. First, our testimony is easily carried; It is with us wherever we go. Then, it is durable; it will last a lifetime. Thirdly, it is attractive.  Our lives are to give off a sweet-smelling savor, or the fragrance of Christ, making salvation attractive. (II Corinthians 2:15, Ephesians 5:2.) Fourthly, God has accepted the blood of Jesus as "Legal Tender," or payment for our salvation.

Paper money, such as we use, has no intrinsic value of and in itself. It is known as "fiat" currency. Fiat is a Latin word meaning "Let it be done." Jesus said, "It is finished."

I forgot to mention the ultimate proof of a note's reliability. It has threads woven through it that show up under a special light that prove it is not counterfeit. The scarlet cord that runs from Genesis to Revelation is Jesus' blood, one that cannot be counterfeited. Also there are watermarks on our paper currency that show up if held to the light--often a picture of a  president or other symbol. A true salvation testimony, when held up to the light of scrutiny or criticism, will reveal the image of Jesus.

Just as the engraving process is carried out under enormous pressure, Jesus suffered such enormous pressure of the weight of bearing the sins of the world that his sweat became as drops of blood during His Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. The very word, "Gethsemane", means "oil press, indicating that that was the place where the olives were squeezed in an ancient press. All this that we may have His Name engraved on our hearts for all eternity.