Value Exchange
I think of value all the time. I compare the taste, nutritional content, ease of preparation, cost and caloric value of food. I would rather not eat than eat high calorie foods that I don’t like. I will eat things for pure nutrition without taste, determining the value of the food to be physical and not emotional. Sometimes I want to eat low nutritional food for emotional value, but in either case, I am mindful.
I have a harder time determining value of time though. Sometimes it is easy. Would my time be better spent earning a few dollars at work or snuggling on the couch with my husband? Would I be more valuable on Saturday or during an overnight shift at my job as a nurse? Is it important to go to the gym or the mall? If I sit and write, will I be on track to produce a book that will be a benefit to others or should I do the laundry? These are only spontaneous decisions that don’t matter, right?
Actually, there are a number of factors that go into each of the decisions. Sometimes, the only thing that matters is spending some time with loved ones and all else, including money is irrelevant. We only have so much time here on earth. At other times we must consider how to pay the bills.
Value exchange is happening all the time. What will you pay for that meal? Those shoes? That dress? Will you be happy with the result of the work you are doing on that project? Will you be uncomfortable after eating twice as much as your body needed? Will the extra activity at work make a difference to anyone? Will the interest you’ll pay on that car loan be worth having that car? Is a vacation worth going into debt over or will you save for it and plan ahead? Will the college education pay you back?
No one likes to think about the exchange everyone is engaged in. We hear things like, “I can’t believe he’s wasting his life on that.” or “She spends all of her life at that.” or “He spent his whole life building that business.” One’s life, the very most important commodity is limited.
The death rate among the living is 100%. Your life is made up of time, talent, energy, intellect, experiences and the ability to communicate all of these things to the rest of the world, by work or words, everything we do is value exchange. You get paid in exchange a job. You enjoy prestige in exchange for a career. You receive accolades in exchange for volunteering. You acquire products in exchange for building, food for cooking, pleasure from the arts and all sorts of other pursuits. As we engage in activity, we exchange our lives.
Why? What is the purpose of life? King Solomon, the wisest man to ever have lived, said that a relationship with God is the sole purpose of mankind. Many people never consider God in anything they do. Many people think of Him at all times. Most are probably in between; considering His relevance and His expectations and wondering if they are even sure if they believe in His existence at all.
If the Bible is true, it is a progressive revelation of a Creator and His relationship to His creation. It is a tutorial of the exchange and the evolution of the exchange. From the time when Adam and Eve received the covering from the death of an animal after they relinquished dominion over the earth to Lucifer to the time when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary to bring the Son, Jesus, into the world and beyond to the present the exchange has always been lives. Jesus was the only begotten of the Father, the perfect exchange for you and me.
He gave His life for ours. He exchanged life for love.