Years ago after traveling to Montreal, Canada I returned home with some Canadian change still in my pocket (remember change?). The surprise came when I went to a vending machine. Unaware, I pumped Canadian quarters into the slot, and they were promptly spit out. Transactions in this country require U.S. currency. 

So as we weigh life in God’s Kingdom – believing the Gospel of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, living in keeping with the Father’s good design – what is His currency? How does living by faith differ from living by sight?

Our world trains us to love things and to use people. Then in a secular world, where nothing has ultimate meaning, the only “meaning” comes from the short-term – the here and now. What is tangible trumps what is spiritual; now is more important than eternity (which the secular person denies); and accumulating power is better than serving anyone (especially God, which again, the secular person denies).

Then comes Christmas. The Bible claims that God invaded space and time in the First Christmas. The Bible claims that when Jesus was born, God was becoming human – without ceasing to be God – on a mission to SERVE the very creatures who had rebelled against Him. The Bible claims that God in Christ was becoming vulnerable enough to die. And the Bible claims that this plan of God’s was to accomplish the most unexpected goal EVER – that by dying, God in Christ would affect a rescue out of death, pettiness, meaninglessness, selfishness and guilt. It is the ultimate reversal – the consummate throw-down, if you will, against every core belief of Secularism.

It’s as if every secular person pumps their currency into the world that God truly designed, the world that God owns and RULES, and it goes right through and out the bottom. It simply does not work. What a miracle then that God in Christ freely gives us everything He requires of us, if we will trust in Him. Precisely because of how God is, and because of how He has loved us, He has offered us citizenship in His Kingdom and endued us with unfathomable riches – in His currency.

Things to pray for:

– Faith versus Sight. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see and ears to hear what He says, versus what proud and foolish people claim.

– Humility. Ask Jesus to help you see how you have ignored His ownership and rule. Ask Him to forgive you and help you honor Him as the True Owner of all existence, including you.

– Wisdom. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you learn, especially as you learn to read His Word every day, and to reflect upon it.

– Compassion for those who do not yet believe. Ask the Lord to help you remember what you were like before trusting Jesus to be your God and Savior. Pray that He would give you compassion, patience and mercy toward people in your life who do not yet trust Jesus as you do.

Tim Rice, Lead Pastor & Director of Church Planting