"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
This week, I want to take a look at gaining. We can gain many things. Weight, money, power, influence, things. The list goes on and on. What, though, really matters in the end? Is it like the bumper sticker says, " the one who dies with the most toys wins?" Or maybe the more you have the better off you are? This verse gets right to the point. The two words that explain this whole verse are this: Profit and lose. The word profit in the Greek is opheleo, meaning, to be useful or to benefit. The word for lose is zemioo, meaning, to cast away, damage or suffer loss. The subject in the verse is man. If the man gains everything he wants in life, but is void of any true relationship with God, it's all for nought. Look at the world we live in. Every day we are bombarded with advertising, trying to convince us that we can't live without this or that. I mean if you think about it, we lived without it until we saw the ad, right? We are a culture consumed with self and pleasing self. I know I have been guilty of this many times. I want what I want, and everyone else comes after. This is so backwards from Christ and His example he gave us. He was, as Gail Erwin so rightly puts it, "others centered." He wasn't concerned about what He could get to please Himself. He had a genuine concern for others to know who God really was and is. We are told on a daily basis that if we surround ourselves with things and stuff, we will be happy. Obviously that is wrong. If it weren't, then why do we have so many self help books, psychiatrists couches full of people, and a majority of the population on anti depressants? Why? Because it doesn't fulfill. Don't get me wrong, having things isn't bad, but desiring more and more is. Letting it consume you and congest your life to the point you are suffocated by them. How many stories do we have to read about millionaires who kill themselves because they weren't happy, before we wake up? In the case of this verse, losing your soul is final. When you and I stand before God when we die, we will hear one of two things. Well done, good and faithful servant, or depart from me, ye who work iniquity, I never knew thee. The bible makes that point clear. So this week, I urge you. Step back from life for a minute or two. Take an inventory of what is driving you. What is your master passion. Is it to know God more, or to get more things? With option one, you get a much more full abundant life. Option two, temporary satisfaction at best. Be blessed this week and see you next Sunday.
Bob.
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
This week, I want to take a look at gaining. We can gain many things. Weight, money, power, influence, things. The list goes on and on. What, though, really matters in the end? Is it like the bumper sticker says, " the one who dies with the most toys wins?" Or maybe the more you have the better off you are? This verse gets right to the point. The two words that explain this whole verse are this: Profit and lose. The word profit in the Greek is opheleo, meaning, to be useful or to benefit. The word for lose is zemioo, meaning, to cast away, damage or suffer loss. The subject in the verse is man. If the man gains everything he wants in life, but is void of any true relationship with God, it's all for nought. Look at the world we live in. Every day we are bombarded with advertising, trying to convince us that we can't live without this or that. I mean if you think about it, we lived without it until we saw the ad, right? We are a culture consumed with self and pleasing self. I know I have been guilty of this many times. I want what I want, and everyone else comes after. This is so backwards from Christ and His example he gave us. He was, as Gail Erwin so rightly puts it, "others centered." He wasn't concerned about what He could get to please Himself. He had a genuine concern for others to know who God really was and is. We are told on a daily basis that if we surround ourselves with things and stuff, we will be happy. Obviously that is wrong. If it weren't, then why do we have so many self help books, psychiatrists couches full of people, and a majority of the population on anti depressants? Why? Because it doesn't fulfill. Don't get me wrong, having things isn't bad, but desiring more and more is. Letting it consume you and congest your life to the point you are suffocated by them. How many stories do we have to read about millionaires who kill themselves because they weren't happy, before we wake up? In the case of this verse, losing your soul is final. When you and I stand before God when we die, we will hear one of two things. Well done, good and faithful servant, or depart from me, ye who work iniquity, I never knew thee. The bible makes that point clear. So this week, I urge you. Step back from life for a minute or two. Take an inventory of what is driving you. What is your master passion. Is it to know God more, or to get more things? With option one, you get a much more full abundant life. Option two, temporary satisfaction at best. Be blessed this week and see you next Sunday.
Bob.
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