“Do you know how much this is worth?”

Startled to see a US $100 bill in the remote village in Uganda where we were teaching, I, instinctively but discretely, felt around my waist.   Could my hidden money pouch have been compromised?  Where did he get the largest bill in US currency?  For many in the area, this equaled  two to three months’ salary, if they even made $1 or $2 a day.

He handed me the bill.  As I turned it over in my hand and looked at it, the texture of the paper was off, the colors faded.  Within a few seconds of examining it, I knew it was fake.

I told him, “This would be worth 207,000 Ugandan shillings, but it’s a counterfeit bill.”

It turned out there were others.  I saw at least three other bills.  Not knowing the genuine from the counterfeit, people in the villages occasionally traded for US bills, leaving them with nothing.  And when they made these exchanges, they didn’t even know the value, or lack of, what they were trading for.

I started thinking about what I valued and what I traded in exchange for my time and work.  Am I exchanging the things in this life for something of value?  Or am I settling for  a copy of something that could have value but lacks the authenticity, a counterfeit like these bills?  I want my life to count—not because someone thought it was valuable, but because it has been authenticated by the only One who can bring value to not only this life, but the one to come— Jesus.