Exchange

“Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Matthew 16:26

Exchange – How much is it worth?  That’s the question.  Not, “How much does it cost?”  The biggest issue in life is not about cost.  It is about value. 

The best way to understand this verse is to use the imagery of a barter economy.  The value of something in a barter system has nothing to do with the price tag.  The value is based on what someone is willing to exchange.  The system is based on need.  If no one needs what you have to offer, the value is zero.  If everyone needs what you have, the value is very high, especially if you have only one item to offer.

So, Jesus raises a point about the barter value of your life.  Matthew uses the word antallagma.  It describes the action of changing one thing for another.   But we might be confused if we think that we are the owners who wish to barter our lives.  We aren’t the sellers.   We are the buyers.  God is the owner of all life including ours.  What Jesus reveals is the exchange value that we place on the item.  Jesus looks at our behavior and draws conclusions about how much we value the one life that we wish to obtain.  What we take in exchange tells the story.

You can make a list for yourself.  It will be your special exchange value.  What’s on that list?  Fame, peace of mind, family, success, possessions, privacy, secrets, revenge, power, control?  There might be small things or there might be world-class goals.  Jesus doesn’t care what’s on your list.  He only cares that you think life is only worth what you can put on the list.  That is the fundamental mistake.  No matter what you put on your list, you sell yourself short.  You have undervalued the product.  God has already given your life a barter value.  That value is the death of His Son.  If you trade away your opportunity for life for anything less than God’s evaluation of its worth, you lost in the bargain.

What did you exchange for your life?  All you have to do is look at your past choices to see how you valued this barter deal.  Sometimes when we take a hard look, we are shocked at how little we thought of ourselves.  If your life is so valuable to Jesus that He was willing to die for it, can you hold it in any less regard?

Get the exchange right!  Let God set the value and never barter for less.