America is a nation on wheels. Even those who do not own a car hire taxis or rent automobiles to travel farther than they can walk. Our mode of transport often becomes part of our identity. We see ourselves in the cars we use: our image; our social standing; even our worth as human beings.
Yet, cars are no more than machines, simple mechanical conveyances to transport us from one location to another. And machines wear out, becoming troublesome bothers that can be more pain in the neck than pleasurable experience.
“Let’s make a trade!” That is a catch-phrase heard at car dealerships across this great country. “Is your car old and broken down? Before you make another repair, come on down and see what a deal we have for you. You can drive away in this beauty for a fraction of the cost of repairing your old clunker.”
We do, too, trading our cars in massive numbers. In 2012, 63 million cars were produced worldwide. An impressive number, with a significant portion of those sales going to repeat customers.
Customers who needed to make a trade.
God likes to take in trades. He takes in those who are wicked, and he offers us righteousness so that we can drive off in style. He exchanges our broken-down transportation (the old man) and gives us a clean heart.
We see this in Proverbs 21:18. In this verse, written over 3,000 years ago, God hawks his wares. “The wicked for the righteous! Let’s make a trade. Bring me your broken-down clunker filled with transgressions, and drive away in an upright heart.”
That is a very loose paraphrase, but it really is that easy. The same thought is even clearer in Proverbs 11:8. Here we read that the righteous is rescued, and trouble falls on the wicked.
To lay this in line with our analogy, when we trade our old heart (our broken-down, troublesome clunker), we are rescued with a trouble-free heart (our shiny new warrantied car).
God loves to take the wicked in on trade, give us a new heart, and see the righteous drive away shiny, new, and clean.
Are we ready to trade? We don’t have to drive around in trouble and despair one more day.
When we feel defeated in our Christian walk, we need only head to Jesus. He wants to make a trade, our old clunker for a life that is shiny and new.
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Code: FGO.L.25.13b.vp