In 2012, a 19-year-old man from Washington state named Dakoda Garren was charged with stealing a rare coin collection worth at least $100,000. After Garren had completed some part-time work for a woman living north of Portland, the woman reported that her family coin collection was missing. Her collection included a variety of rare and valuable coins, including Liberty Head quarters, Morgan dollars, and other coins dating back to the early 1800s.

Initially, Garren denied any involvement, claiming that the police didn't have any evidence against him. But then he started spending the coins at face value, apparently unaware of the coins' worth. He and his girlfriend paid for movie tickets using quarters worth between $5 and $68. Later on the same day, they bought some local pizza with rare coins, including a Liberty quarter that may be worth up to $18,500.

The news article reported, "Garren has been charged with first-degree theft and is being held in jail on $40,000 bond. Which, technically, is an amount he could easily afford if the valuable coin collection were actually his."

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Our Relationship with God—We honor God (or the things of God) when we treat him with the value he deserves. We dishonor the Lord—in our attitudes or in our actions, such as worship—when we treat God like an ordinary or even a cheap object. (2) Our Relationships with Others—In the same way, we dishonor other people (such as our spouse, our friends, our children, even our enemies) when we treat them as cheap objects. They should be treated according to the value God has placed on them. (3) The Importance of Rightly Setting Value on Everything in Life—We need to place ultimate value where it belongs, in the things of God that endure forever. The ability to discern true value is crucial, as seen in the story of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew.