EXCHANGED VALUES

An old proverb says that "The world is a net; the more we stir in it, the more we are entangled."

Max Lucado tells the story about a prank that occurred years ago: A couple of prowlers broke into a department store in a large city. They successfully entered the store, stayed long enough to do what they came to do, and escaped unnoticed.

What is unusual about the story is what these guys did. They took nothing. No merchandise was stolen. No items were removed. Instead of stealing anything, they changed the cost of everything. Price tags were swapped. Values were exchanged. The pranksters took the tag off a $395.00 camera and stuck it on a $5.00 box of stationery. The $5.95 sticker on a paperback book was removed and placed on an outboard motor. They re-priced everything in the store!

The store opened as usual. Employees went to work. Customers began to shop. The place functioned as normal for four hours before anyone noticed that the values had been swapped.

A pearl to string: This can happen to us. Life can sneak by us and we find ourselves exchanging things that are important for those that, in comparison, are unimportant - the world honors success and hard work, so we devote ourselves to jobs we can't wait to retire from, while ignoring marriages that we entered into for a lifetime. We seek clean, healthy homes, but let them become dumping grounds for the pollution contained in some television programs, movies and popular music; and, we want our children to have strong character traits like honesty and integrity, but spend far more time taking them to athletic events and other activities than tending to their spiritual and moral needs.

Seeking "happiness" and acceptance, we buy into the world's values and do what is popular. In my youthful exuberance I jumped into life and went the way of the world. But if the world's values can produce true happiness, why is there a constant effort to create and promote new forms of amusement and entertainment?

As Erwin Lutzer observed ... If you are not nourished by the Bread from heaven, you will stuff yourself with crumbs from the world. How glorious it has been to learn that Jesus is the bread of my life. (John 6:35)

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Point to the Lord and move in His direction
And know you are loved,
Lyndi