The Value of a Soul

 

    There are some things in this life that I feel I cannot do without.  Most of them are small things such as printer ink.  You always need to have a spare cartridge of printer ink.  Oh, and there are the numerous little coffee cans that are filled with countless washers, nuts, bolts and other things that don't reveal from where they came.  Then, we can start adding up all of the material possessions that we have such as houses, cars, boats lawn mowers and don't forget, cordless screwdrivers.  You never have too many of those.  When you think about it, what things are there that you could do without?    Matthew 16:26 says,   "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"   

     It must have been an age old question that the Lord Jesus Christ asked that day.  We could get personal and ask ourselves the same question and most would not hesitate to say that the most important thing of all is our own soul.  The Philippian Jailer asked Paul an important question when he asked, "What must I do to be saved?"   This question, the one asked by the Lord Jesus Christ on that day is just as important especially to us in this country, in this place.  Christ asked the question, "What if you have everything in the world and in the end, lose your own soul and then spend an eternity without Christ, totally separated from God and totally separated from any other being.  Jude describes it as a "wandering star"  in total blackness forever.  There are those in the world who had to make that choice but who rejoice in that they chose Christ instead of the pleasures of the world.  It can go back a long time to such men as Polycarp who could have lived a peaceful life simply by offering a pinch of incense to the Roman gods and saying, "Caesar is Lord."  The early Christians, however, made the choice to follow the One Who has power over our souls instead of the Romans.  The suffered, were martyred, but still rejoiced.  They would rather suffer at the hands of the government than deny the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can say that Christ has never failed us in all of our years, so why should we fail Him now.  May we say with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."  Praise God today for His faithfulness.