What Is Important
Human nature gives man a suspicious will. Man believes in himself, that which he can do and accomplish. Man can readily accept human beliefs and concepts. But it goes against man’s will to trust and follow a God he cannot completely fathom or understand. There is a story about a man named Jim who found a beautiful necklace. The gold chain had precious stones engraved into it and held an old tarnished coin. The chain was pretty and looked valuable if one would not look at the ugly old coin. Jim took the chain to a local pawn broker he knew that would not ask many questions. The pawn broker looked at the chain with the inlaid stones and thought it could be worth quite a few bucks. But he could not be sure of the chain’s value without having a friend come over to appraise it, and that would cost fifty dollars. Jim took the old coin off the chain and put it in his pocket. The coin was so scratched up it was probably just an old keep sake someone had put on the pretty chain. Besides if the owner was really looking for the chain it would be easy to identify with the coin on it. Jim told the pawn broker he would leave the chain and be back with the fifty dollars needed for the appraisal. Jim didn’t know how he was going to get the money, but by hook or crook he would raise it.
Jim went over to the local diner to grab something to eat. Ben, an old friend, was sitting at the counter eating. Jim explained his story hoping Ben would loan him the fifty dollars. But Ben merely asked Jim when he was going to pay him the last twenty dollars he loaned him. Suddenly Jim had an idea, with a hustler’s pitch Jim sold Ben the old coin that had been on the chain for fifty dollars. Ben knew he had probably been taken, but he liked the old coin. As Jim hurried out of the diner he heard Ben beller out that he would be over to get the coin appraised when he was through eating. Jim went to the pawn shop and waited while the friend came over to appraised the chain. Jim’s excitement melted way when the appraiser said the chain was only worth one hundred dollars. Just then Ben walked into the store and seeing Jim called out for him to stay and see how much he had taken his old friend for. The appraiser didn’t think the coin was worth much, but offered to look through an old coin book and see if the coin was worth anything for ten bucks. Jim and Ben visited while waiting for the coin to be the appraised. Jim hoped Ben wouldn’t be to mad for he didn’t think the coin was even worth the ten dollar appraisal fee. Finally the appraiser came out half laughing. He told them someone had really been taken. Ben, half disgusted, asked the appraiser to tell him the bad news. The appraiser looked at Ben and said, “This is a very rare coin. It is worth over two million dollars.” To say Ben was happy was an understatement. But Jim could not believe what he had done. He had been so mesmerized by the shining gold chain he had given away the real treasure, the old ugly coin. So it is with many today. We are so engrossed in human pleasures, possessions, and ideals that seem to fit our lifestyles, that we do not take the time to look for what is really valuable. We do not search in the book, the Bible, to find out how much Christ loves us. Just as Jim didn‘t think an old ugly coin could be worth that much, we do not trust an old book like the Bible to have the most important message to enrich our lives. By not looking in a book Jim lost a treasure. By not opening the Bible we can lose the greatest treasure of all, God’s great gift of eternal life in Heaven.