Jesus spoke about Money often, he paid taxes and watched people give money at the temple; and sometimes he used money as an example or a teaching illustration. If he had one piece of advice about money what would it be?
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his soul?" Mark 8:36 .
A QUESTION
It is amazing at how well Jesus answered his critics who challenged him with questions. Here it is Jesus who asks a question, and his question may be the hardest one to answer but the most important one, and it is a question each of us must answer for ourselves.
A QUESTION OF VALUE
It is a question of values where one is greater and one is lesser and we determine which.
PROFIT
This may be the most important word in this verse. Here is the bottom line. Here is the ultimate question. It is like saying, "What is the point, or what is the good in it?"
THE WHOLE WORLD
At first glance, the whole world would be the ultimate gain, if you had the whole world you would have it all; every need, every desire, and every pleasure would be yours. If we stop there it would be a nice idea but the next phrase adds a surprising perspective.
LOSE YOUR SOUL
We have gone from gaining to losing. Our soul is eternal and it is the truest part of us. To lose your soul would be a loss that cannot be recovered. The Bible teaches we have one life and experience one death then we face the judgment. Hebrews 9:27.
GAIN
Everyone agrees that you must look to the future and save for retirement or save for kid's college, but when it comes to eternity we become nearsighted. Yes, we should save for retirement, mortgage, and for kid's college but we must also look beyond.
The reason we save for things like retirement is that we hope to live into retirement, but even if we don't we will still experience eternity. We must make plans for how we will spend eternity just like we plan for our retirement here.
THE ANSWER
All the riches and power for the few years we have here are not worth sacrificing eternity for.
We must work and earn a living but earning money and acquiring wealth should not be our focus. We need a balanced attitude. We live this life and use its resources for the next. The wealth you gain in this life you cannot keep in the next.
There is no profit in getting wealthy for a short time to lose your soul forever, but if you live your life in such a way that you consider eternity you will have a richer life here; it may not be finically richer but richer in ways the world cannot measure and that heaven rewards.
To learn more about the riches of salvation see my other blog.
I hope this is an encouragement. To find more use the search box above or choose from the list of favorites in the sidebar.
(C) Adron
Use the buttons below to share this with your social network.
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his soul?" Mark 8:36 .
A QUESTION
It is amazing at how well Jesus answered his critics who challenged him with questions. Here it is Jesus who asks a question, and his question may be the hardest one to answer but the most important one, and it is a question each of us must answer for ourselves.
A QUESTION OF VALUE
It is a question of values where one is greater and one is lesser and we determine which.
PROFIT
This may be the most important word in this verse. Here is the bottom line. Here is the ultimate question. It is like saying, "What is the point, or what is the good in it?"
THE WHOLE WORLD
At first glance, the whole world would be the ultimate gain, if you had the whole world you would have it all; every need, every desire, and every pleasure would be yours. If we stop there it would be a nice idea but the next phrase adds a surprising perspective.
LOSE YOUR SOUL
We have gone from gaining to losing. Our soul is eternal and it is the truest part of us. To lose your soul would be a loss that cannot be recovered. The Bible teaches we have one life and experience one death then we face the judgment. Hebrews 9:27.
GAIN
Everyone agrees that you must look to the future and save for retirement or save for kid's college, but when it comes to eternity we become nearsighted. Yes, we should save for retirement, mortgage, and for kid's college but we must also look beyond.
The reason we save for things like retirement is that we hope to live into retirement, but even if we don't we will still experience eternity. We must make plans for how we will spend eternity just like we plan for our retirement here.
THE ANSWER
All the riches and power for the few years we have here are not worth sacrificing eternity for.
We must work and earn a living but earning money and acquiring wealth should not be our focus. We need a balanced attitude. We live this life and use its resources for the next. The wealth you gain in this life you cannot keep in the next.
There is no profit in getting wealthy for a short time to lose your soul forever, but if you live your life in such a way that you consider eternity you will have a richer life here; it may not be finically richer but richer in ways the world cannot measure and that heaven rewards.
To learn more about the riches of salvation see my other blog.
___________________
I hope this is an encouragement. To find more use the search box above or choose from the list of favorites in the sidebar.
(C) Adron
Use the buttons below to share this with your social network.
This post first appeared on What Does The Bible Say About Money And Wealth, please read the originial post: here
