“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” ~ Mark 8:36
There comes a time in life that we all must weigh the importance between substance and sustenance. The two words may appear to mean the same but there is a distinct difference when we speak of the two in matters of the spiritual.
Jesus had already had a discussion with his disciples concerning their definition and perception of who he was, the reality that he would not be with them much longer and that the perceived value placed on earthly treasures and possessions was utterly worthless compared to the eternal destination of one’s soul after transitioning from the earthly realm. Jesus spoke of this in a very strong manner when he preached the “Sermon on the Mount” recorded in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not consume and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Are all the riches of the world worth your soul being consumed in eternal and everlasting punishment in the depths of an abyss called Hell? No, I do not believe that Jesus desires us to be financially poor and without the necessary resources to take care of ourselves, our families, and our friends, but when our focus becomes centered on corruptible things rather than the incorruptibility of God then here in lies the problem.
If your desire is tied to coveting materialism (money, cars, luxury, fine clothes, immaculate houses) then Jesus is saying that your choice of these things shows where the mind of your heart resides. What was that? “The Mind of Your Heart”? Yes! The Scriptures says in Proverbs 23:7, “For as a man thinks in his heart, then so is he!” There an embodiment that heart captures when we condition it to think a certain way. If the “champagne lifestyle” is what your spirit is about, then expect your heart to be fashioned in like manner. If your heart is conditioned to what the book of Ephesians terms as the “fruits of the Spirit” then your heart will follow suit to the expectancy of the substance those things bring to your soul, and not to the expansion of your wallet.
The first and the tenth commandments of the Ten Commandments are paraphrased this way: 1) You will not have any other gods before me & 2) You will not covet anything. Both speak to the reality of allowing someone or something other than our Lord to become our god. If that happens then I must ask the question, “What in the end did you gain?” You gained sustenance and that will only last you for a temporary amount of time. It is just like expecting a plate of junk food to last for a significant amount of time. When your soul is being properly fed with the eternal wealth of Jesus Christ and all he has freely offered us then our countenance, posture, and overall spiritual health are continuously being set up and set forth for the reward that cannot be spent, destroyed, or have the potential of rotting out.
Where is your treasure? Where is your focus? Where is your heart?………….After asking those three questions, then ask yourself, IS IT ALL GAIN?
~Rev. E. Shon Hagwood
