We Accept Yen!

I walked through a trendy marketplace yesterday and saw posted right next to the nail care products "We accept yen."  My sweet niece said with a smile, "Who's Yen?"  We both chuckled.  We were both having fun with the nail colors and deciding which colors would look best, which I suggested was much more fun in scrapbooking and cards than on a nail that would chip away eventually anyway. 

It occurred to me, though, how the currency of life affects everything we do, everywhere we go.  The monetary value of relationships cannot be exchanged, devalued, or monetized.  When an imposter displays an immitation of so-called feigned love (which is really intolerance) you can smell the decay a county away.  What they bought was valueless.  A trash heap of emotions that only decay and erode what could have been a beauty in the wilderness.


The true timeless value of the currency of love far outstrips anything that can be bought or sold to accelerate or increase the value of a human life one to another.   What can be "purchased" in a store that accepts this kind of currency?  Oh, much.  So much.  Luscious grace, forgiving acceptance, humor and courage to name far too few in a noninclusive list.  These embrace the unique individuality of a life loving in full embrace, ignoring the negative bumps and jabs that would suck the joys like a lollipop in a summer sun.  Yep.  That's love.  It's abundant but you have to know the right place to shop.  So important.  Shop where it counts.  Where the true things are abundant and frankly free. 


So go ahead.  Stock up.  When you need courage, Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! (Psalm 31.24); when you need love, "For the Father Himself loves you," (John 16:27); when you need comfort, He is the God of all comfort and mercy (1 Cor. 1:3-5).  When your soul aches and has a "yen" for that which would nurture, give sustenance, and spur you into greater things than you ever thought you could achieve let the love of God, the grace of God, and joy of the Spirit of Grace lead you to the checkout.