| “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). |
| Yesterday we saw how that our soul is that part of us which controls our desires, and makes us unique as individuals. In our verse for today, we find that it is possible for a man to have everything in this world, and yet to lose his soul. We might ask, What does it mean to lose your soul? |
| There have been many wealthy people in the history of this world, and today there are some who are billionaires many times over. At the time I am writing this in 2021, the richest man in the world is Jeff Bezos, who founded the Amazon Company. Apparently he is worth $177 billion, and it is hard for some of us to imagine that amount of money. Even if you spent a million dollars every day, you could not spend that amount of money in one lifetime. Yet he cannot take it with him; he can use it only in this life. |
| Back in 2011 another wealthy man, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of the Apple computer company, died of pancreatic cancer when he was only fifty-six years old. He was apparently worth $7 billion at the time, and while he was on his deathbed, one of his friends commented to him that he had done pretty well for himself. Steve Jobs’ answer to him shows that what the Bible says is true, for he said, “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me.” |
| When He was here on earth, the Lord Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). To destroy something means to make it unusable for the purpose for which it was made. We were created for God’s pleasure (see Revelation 4:11), but if we refuse God’s offer of mercy through the Lord Jesus, we cannot give Him pleasure in our sins. Then God has no choice but to put us in hell for all eternity, and this is what it means to lose your soul. In hell neither your soul or body can give God pleasure; you are alive, but you have lost your soul. |
| This is an awful end for those who were created for God’s pleasure, and it does not have to be that way. If you are not saved, you can accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior today, and know that you will spend your eternity in heaven with the Lord. |
