One bad thing about being a private person is the number of odd facts people don't know.  You may not know or can believe that antiques are part of my history.  I can appreciate a good antique as well as the next person.  Maybe it's one reason for my enjoyment of museums and the like.  Old stuff is fascinating to me.  But since my college minor is history that may not be surprising.  Several of my relatives spent a great deal of time and money on items another person would toss out.  I can remember going into houses with items lined up in cabinets or other display cases.  Just don't ask me what they were worth as that part of the hobby escapes me. 

I took a group to a town once that has several antique stores.  Most of the ladies who went were older but one took her infant daughter along.  I could not imagine why she would ask me to tag along but it didn't take long to find out.  My job was to carry the infant while she ransacked stores looking for old dinner plates.  The one good outcome of this is that her child weighed far less than what she purchased.  I now have a very few collectibles from the years.  Finances limit my investment in real antiquing.  But it is part of my journey.

We are talking this week about the difference between old and new religion.  Antiques may be very valuable but not really usable.  Most times they are set out for display with the given or suggested idea they not be touched.  Perhaps at one time someone used the plates or sat in the furniture but those days passed.  Some can tell you the entire history of an item along with the price but draw the line at using it again.  Sounds to me like the religion of far too many people out there.  It once was personal and usable but now it is a relic to be admired not actually used.  The experience of God in the past means more than the God of our experience now.  Such is one of the problems with an old faith.

Real faith needs no protecting from the elements of daily life.  Real faith does not require us to handle it with care.  Real faith continues to grow in usefulness as we journey through our days.  Jesus tells us about old wineskins not being able to hold new wine.  He knows our human tendency to allow faith to atrophy into the antique.  Be sure that genuine faith can go through the roughest of spots while remaining whole.  You can be sure that connecting more to the God of your experience only increases the value of your faith.  How can we afford not to live that way?

Bro. Trey