ICS Daily Devotions
Don’t Exchange Our Soul For The World
Mark 8:36-37 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
The phrase “selling the soul” to the company means giving everything we have to the company and it often means sacrificing our private time for the family and ourselves. We should be successful in all that we do in life but it would be awful to lose everyone who is important in our lives at the expense of wanting to be significant in the world.
Many people have been prioritizing work, achievements, recognition, possessions, power, and remunerations above family and the need for God. We live with the deception that in order to be somebody we have to have the money, a certain kind of car, a good promotion, a big house, and appearing in lifestyle magazines and be known among the elite in the corporate world. We take pride in the title in our calling card, and compare the expatriate terms that we have been offered. We think that all these will give us true happiness. It does not. In fact, insecurity will begin to grip our life; we start worrying about maintaining our position. It might even grow to become an illness when we are suspicious of everyone and anyone.
Sadly, those who have reached the top realized that it is a lonely, stressful and a thankless job. There is a price for being affluent and successful and it can be at the expense of our health, relationship and family. If we would quieten down and take stock of our lives, we will quickly realize that many of our friends are “fair weather” friends. There is no real friendship and love because everyone is only leveraging on each other.
Hell is a place of regrets with no way of returning or making things right. The rich young ruler was crying to Abraham and Lazarus to send someone to inform his brother not to head for this place because it is a place of constant torment. His memory was intact because he was able to remember his sibling despite suffering in Hades. Eternity with regrets is real.
Jesus is asking us to consider the price for our soul. Do we want to exchange our soul that last for eternity for the status in society, the houses that we own, the cars that we drive, the country clubs that we are a member of, the yacht that we have at the marina and the cash that is in our bank accounts? The answer would be a “No.” because these things are only temporary. Yet we have been so driven to work towards having all these as a sign of success in life.
Therefore, let us not be blinded and deceived by the lust of the flesh and the eyes in this sinful and perverted generation. When we truly believe that our soul is priceless because we are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ then we will not sell our soul to the company.
Mark 8:34b “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
One of the greatest challenges for the Christian is the decision to deny oneself by choosing to do what the Lord wants us to do and not doing what we would like to do. There is a constant battle between the flesh and the spirit. Therefore, we need to choose to submit ourselves under the will of God that is revealed in His Word in order for us to truly enjoy the abundant life.
Denying self literally means to “completely disown, to utterly separate oneself from someone.” It implies that we stop listening to our own voice and stop leaning on our own power. When we deny ourselves, we give up all our will, plans, wants and rights and relinquish all control of our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is a concept most foreign in our day! Most religions and many popular ministries are focused on catering to self. They want people to feel good about themselves and build up people’s self-esteem.
Rather than spend eternity with regrets, let us exchange it for an eternity with God.
Jesus, on the other hand, wants mankind to know that without Him, they are nothing and can do nothing.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
The best place to be in is the place where we find complete rest in our soul when God is the boss of our lives and our investments. We will feel much tension when we are living out our own plans instead of living out the will of God through a consecrated life. However, if we are living out the will of God then we will be restful because we know that God has initiated it and He is in control.
Sermon Series: Affluenza
