May 19, 2017 (Friday)
I wrote a blog this week about the Nickel coin and the paper dollar bill. Both blogs were factual and the subject was real money.
Have you ever seen “play money?” You can buy all you want these days. Here’s an example:
You can buy Ones, Fives, Tens, or whatever you want. You can also buy play coins–Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, etc. Cheap enough. I think I saw one ad for something like $9,300 play money for $9.95 real money.
Kids, being the ingenious critters that they are, can play all day with such stuff. And
the process can be educational, if supervised. Lots of kids play “store” with this play money, and stock the shelves of the “store” with play goods, like play bread or play apples.
The sky’s the limit in the use of play money. Let your creative imagination guide you.
There’s a difference between real money and play money. And there’s a difference between real money and counterfeit money. Now that’s a “horse of a different color.” That’s not a game; that’s a crime. Our paper money has been redesigned so that it cannot be easily counterfeited, and clerks just about everywhere are being taught how to recognize counterfeit money, sometimes using special devices to aid them in doing so.
Jesus knew the difference between genuine faith and counterfeit religion. He scolded some Scribes and Pharisees for pretending to be good people when they were not. His words hit them hard when he told them they were like beautiful tombs full of dead bones. They were not the real thing.
When I was a child, I loved the radio program that came on every Saturday morning called, “Let’s Pretend.” Sadly, some folks play that game with their faith. They don’t use play money, but they try to get by on pretended faith. It won’t work. Jesus wants us to be Christians if we are called “Christians.”