The other day I was making a PBJ (peanut butter & jelly) sandwich for Emerald while she watched. As I spread the grape jelly she said, “MeeMee, the J is so glamorous. It’s purple!”

I’d never thought of jelly as glamorous, but I understood. Unlike the drab-beige of the PB, the J really had it – rich color and sparkling shine.

Emerald loves glamour. Princess dresses, sparkling crowns, glittering fingernails. But maybe she’s not the only one.

In thinking about what attracts our attention, it’s often the most glamorous things that grab us – the brightly colored, the shiny, the sparkling. It’s the fanciest cars. The flashiest vacations. The showiest homes. The biggest jewels. The designer clothes.

This might even be true when it comes to people. Are we enamored with glamour? Do we name-drop in our conversations? “I spotted that celebrity at a supermarket once and actually talked to her.” Or, “I got that famous person’s signature in my copy of his book.”

We might spend time reading about the rich and famous, secretly wishing we could be like them. Or maybe we complain that we don’t have all the “stuff” we need or enough money to buy it. So how do we keep ourselves in check?

One way is to view these things as God does – especially when it comes to sizing-up people. He definitely sees individuals differently than we see each other. His Word says, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

This is a quote directly from Jesus, and when he said it, he was trying to teach his disciples the difference between the world’s version of greatness and his. They didn’t understand it at the time, but that didn’t bother Jesus. He stuck with his statement.

Bottom line? The most “glamorous” on earth might not be as sparkly in heaven.

That’s even true of sandwiches. After all, the drab-looking PB actually wins in a contest of nutrition, but the oh-so-glamorous J?

Last place.

“Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Matthew 19:30)