What Shall It Profit A Man?

!±8± What Shall It Profit A Man?

Do you remember the words that Jesus spoke about this? Sure you do. He said: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul" (Mark 8:36-37 KJV)

The word "soul" is sometimes referred to as "life," but in this particular setting, Jesus was certainly talking about losing your spiritual life, which would be the loss of the soul.

A soul is not lost in the sense that it can be mislaid or can't be found, nor does a soul being lost means that it goes out of existence, but what Jesus is saying in this scripture is to "lose" your soul means, the loss of spiritual well-being. Also, when you "lose" your soul, you would be alienated from God by sin in this life, and ultimately separated from Him eternally in the life to come (II Thess. 1:8,9 KJV).

Count the Costs
Today in the media, we see many advertisements shoved down our throat enticing us to buy these lottery tickets, and you can be the next big winner. These ads can make it seem like winning the lottery is a piece of cake, and they may paint a pretty little picture that traps you into thinking that if you have all this money then you will automatically have ultimate bliss.

But consider this; if gambling will cost a person his soul, what does it profit to win a bunch of money?

Your soul is your most valuable possession. But here is the question that each of us must face: Do I really count my soul and its eternal safety as being most important? Because I know that God does, but do I? God knows if I do or not, and when you see my choices in life, you will know, too.

It seems as though some of us, as Christians spend most of our time chasing after the things of the world rather than pursuing the things of God. I understand that we do have our responsibilities that have to be taken care of (our mortgages, bills, etc.), however, let us take the time to remind ourselves, why God has placed us here in this world in the first place. We are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. We are in this world, but not of this world (Matthew 5:14, Matthew 5:13, John 17:14-16).

We are here to make a difference in the lives of those who need to see the difference Christ has made in our lives. How can we stay focused on the things that are important, and that really matters?

If when we look at Jesus' life, we will see that all that he ever valued is man and his soul. Since he cared so much about a man's soul, shouldn't we do the same?

I ask you, "What shall it profit...?"