Original Entry:
November 2, 2011
McMinnville, OR
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole
world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what
can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:20
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also. Matthew 6:21
Men are into
upgrades. I have fond memories of my
grandpa, at 90 years old, holding my grandmother’s hand (after 64 years of
marriage) and joking, “I told her if she isn’t careful I am going to trade her
in for a newer model.”
In 1991 I bought a
beautiful mountain bike. I committed to
keep that bike forever and only buy newer parts to replace broken
components. Twenty years later I still
have that bike but the only original components are the bar ends!
Men are into
upgrades.
A fisherman’s home is
littered with tackle upgrades. A hunter’s garage is often filled with
camouflage upgrades. The same can be said for motor heads, golfers, and sports
fanatics. You get the picture. Of all the upgrades and exchanges a man makes
there is one he must never surrender, his soul.
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world,
yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man
give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew
16:20)
We all know at least
one man, usually many, who has it all-an amazing career, beautiful wife,
successful children, all the toys a man could ever hope for and a magnum home
to put it all in. He once was a thriving
Christian serving the Lord in dynamic fashion but got rich and traded it all in
for pleasure.
He surrendered his
soul for his stuff, thinking it was an upgrade.
Don’t be that man.
A man’s treasure is
not found in the accumulation of stuff but a heart committed in service to the
King. The world and its stuff will not pass into eternity only what is done for
Jesus. Be careful not to waste your life
in pursuit of the world’s fading treasures. (2Corinthians 4:18)
