Text: Matthew 16:21-28
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” —Matthew 16:26
The total wealth in the entire world is $280 trillion. If you were offered every cent of that money to reject Christ and forsake the kingdom of God, would you take it?
Before you make haste in your answer—because it’s convenient to give the Sunday School answer when no one is really offering you that kind of money—consider that Esau sold his birthright for a measly pot of stew (Genesis 25:27-34). Judas sold out Jesus for a sum of about twenty dollars (Matthew 26:15)—this after physically walking closely with Jesus for over three years and seeing all of those miracles firsthand! Demas sold out his ministry “having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10). All three of them believed they were gaining something when in reality they were losing so much.
It’s easy to say we are sold out to God while actually giving away bits and pieces of our soul every day to the world we live in. In our culture, the greatest value is often placed on that which has no lasting value—and if we were to be honest, we all struggle with trading in eternal currency for temporary gain. Oftentimes this looks more like a gradual erosion of values as opposed to a sudden betrayal of faith.
In Matthew 16, Jesus asks what good it is for a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul (Matthew 16:26). To gain the whole world would be to receive anything this world has to offer which you deem would make your life better—money, fame, pleasure, power, prestige, etc. To lose one’s soul, in the clear sense of Jesus’ words, is to spend an eternity apart from God. Losing your soul is about trading in a vertical relationship with God for all of the horizontal pleasures of this world.
In this particular context, Jesus was predicting His suffering and death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21). Peter, a little too enamored with the horizontal things of this world rather than the vertical riches of being kingdom-minded, resisted Jesus’ words. Jesus rebuked him and said, “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (verse 23). Turning to the rest of the disciples, Jesus exhorted them that nothing in all the world can be compared to the worth of one’s own eternal soul.
When Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt for your sins, He was saying that you are worth more than the value of the whole world. It’s fair to say that Jesus believed that the value of your soul is worth more than $280 trillion dollars to God. Is God worth more than that to you? What evidence in your life would point to a “Yes”?
Your soul—that invisible and eternal part of you—is the most important part of who you are. Your soul is the real you. Everything else is just temporary. It’s fleeting. God doesn’t want you so enamored with all that glitters on the horizontal landscape that you lose focus of what’s of eternal value on the vertical landscape. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
How do I sense the tide that’s rising?
De-sensitizing me from living in the light of eternity
How do I sense the tide that’s rising?
It’s hypnotizing me from living in the light of eternityLord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,
That fight for our love, and our passion,
As our eyes are open wide and on you
Grant us the privilege of your worldview,
And may your kingdom be what wakes us up, and lays us down—tobyMac
PRAYER
God, help me to see the riches of your kingdom and its immeasurable value in my life above all that this world has to offer. Let me not be like Esau, who traded in his birthright for a temporary pleasure, or like Judas and Demas, who betrayed Jesus for worldly ambition. By your grace, keep my heart set on the things that transcend this temporary and fleeting world. Enamor me with your kingdom that nothing in all this world would compare with the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. In His name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection, Small Group or Family Discussion:
- What would you do with $280 trillion?
- Would one cent of that money make your heart richer toward God and His kingdom? Why or why not?
- How does your life reflect the truth that “your soul is your most valuable possession”?
- Is Christ radically changing your attitudes toward the way you cling to this world? What evidence points to that?
- What actions are you willing to take today in order to feed and care for your soul?
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