The Great Exchange
So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. Revelation 3:18 NLT
I thought of this passage in Jesus’ message to the church of Laodicea while studying Sunday’s Sabbath school lesson on Isaiah 55.
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. Isaiah 55:1-2 NLT
Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com
In the latter God is telling us to buy even though we have no money. In the former Jesus is telling us to buy white garments. What is up with that? I thought salvation and the robe of righteousness were free? Could Jesus be talking about buying things without money again like as in Isaiah 55? If so what does Jesus mean by buying without money? Can you buy without money? Yes you can. Years ago a friend of mine had no money to pay her overdue doctor’s bill, but she had an idea. She had a nice television she was not using anymore. She went to the doctor’s office and offered her television as payment for her bill. The doctor accepted and put the television in the waiting room. My friend paid her bill without money.
So can we likewise buy our white garments and salvation without money? Can we buy it on the bartering system as my friend bought her medical services? I think so. Jesus wants us to trade in our sins for His forgiveness. In Zachariah 3 Joshua trades in his filthy rags for a robe of righteousness. We can even trade in our broken dreams so God can fulfill His dreams in us.
If there ever were dreams That were lofty and noble They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life’s best were the hopes That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life And laid it at the cross.
Something beautiful, something goodAll my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life
–Something Beautiful, by Bill Gaither
We can never buy salvation in the sense of working or earning it. Yet if you consider the bartering system as a form of buying we can trade in our old life for a new life. We can trade or filthy clothes for Jesus’ robe of righteousness. We can trade our broken dreams and broken hearts in for the paradise of God’s reality.
