The Gain of the World Brings NO Profit
35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
We spend a lot of energy in this world “gathering.” We engage much of our time and expend much of our energy accumulating. We tend to value those who have more and, mostly, tend to think less of those who have little. Somehow we are fooled into believing that the more we have the better people we are. We would do well to read more of Solomon’s life experiment in the book of Ecclesiastes. Here the riches man on the planet discovered and stated the following:
11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Jesus, in a conversation with his disciples, lays out the futility of riches and the world’s offerings. It should be noted that Jesus is NOT telling them the world should be shunned or avoided or ridiculed. We are in the world and Jesus died for those in the world. We are to go into the world and teach the Gospel. What Jesus is telling us concerns our loyal to it, our passion for it, and our worship of it. Remember, the disciples had left all to follow Jesus. Jesus is not condemning them. Jesus is telling them as they move forward to build the church and navigate the world, to be careful and not allow the enticements of the world to trap us and fool us. The world offers a peace that can be very deceptive. It is a false peace that does not reconcile us to God. Jesus came to reconcile us to God by resolving the wrath between God and man and to provide a peace only the Spirit can provide. Don’t be fooled by the world. It can’t add profit to your life. It is only a credit on your account, not a debit.
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