I read somewhere the story of a group of teenagers who broke into a department store one night. They didn’t steal or destroy anything. They just had a wonderful time switching price tags. The next morning customers were puzzled and delighted to find fur coats selling for $5.00. Cold cream was priced at $150. A silver service was marked $1.75 and a pair of ladies’ hose $390. There were umbrellas for $1,000 and diamond rings for $2.00.
I don’t know whether this story is true or not. But it really doesn’t matter, for something like this can happen in the lives of people. They get the price tags of life, and thus the real values of life, all mixed up. This is just as likely to happen in the spiritual realm as well as the physical. That is why the Bible says, “Labour not to be rich ... for riches certainly make for themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:4-5).
The true values are never in things; they are too uncertain, transitory, and passing. What are the true values of life? Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). He asked later, “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
The most important thing in all of life is our relationship to God. If we are right with him, we will be right with ourselves, others, and our possessions. In a day when so many people are living lives with misplaced values, let us wisely put God first.