Soul Value

         I had a chemistry class in high school probably in 1956 or thereabouts.  The teacher, Mr. Wells came in and was telling us some facts about various elements and then made the statement that the human body, if it could be reduced to its basic elements, its  value would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.87.  The value in today’s world might be up to around five bucks due to inflation or even a tad more.  Wow!  That’s not very much money for such a complex organism.  The value however, is not based on what that compound of elements can do but what it would take to make it up.  No one can take the same amount of elements and make them into a human being that can function as we do today.  Obviously, there is a great difference on what God can do and does do and what man thinks that he can do.  Mark 8:36 says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

     The Lord Jesus Christ points out that the value of a human being is not in what it takes to make one, but the value of the soul.  In this discussion, Jesus compares the wealth of the world to that of one soul.  The idea is that if you were able to accumulate all the wealth of the world and yet lose you own soul in the end, you would lose everything.  We are living in an age when we can create robots to do certain tasks around the home such as the “Roomba” which vacuums your floor as it slowly travels around the house gobbling up pieces of cereal, old macaroni, a few pet hairs and maybe a few of your own.  You can take your computer and actually print a 3D object and you can paint it and look at it and you can make parts with your printer that actually come together to make another object.  None of them have a soul.  Our creations fall way short of that but they are cute to look at and occupy some of our time to make them.  Man’s desire to accumulate things in his lifetime is quite evident in the amount of “estate sales” that you can find in any location.  People die and they leave behind all that they have accumulated.  Valuable coins, shotguns, furniture, antiques, old gas pumps, glass eggs, buttons, tools and the list goes on and on.  What happened to the former owner's soul?  That is the question that should be addressed.  Just sit in your chair and look around you at the possessions that surround you right where you are at this present moment.  I can look at five book cases, racks of software CD’s, music CD’s and components, chairs, a desk and a lot of pens and pencils and of course the electronic devices just in this one room alone.  When God calls you home and sooner or later, He will do just that.  When that takes place, the things of this world will mean nothing.  The possibility of losing one's soul should be the greatest concern ever.  Our 70 odd years are but a drop in the bucket when compared to eternity and the decision that you make in this life will affect your eternal state.  Easy words to say, but they have a lot of impact.  One doesn’t like to think about that possibility and often put it off to a more convenient time or say that they will make that decision when the time comes.  Quite often, when God calls, there is but a split second and you don’t even have time to say, “oops.”  It’s not about the $1.87 cents worth of chemicals that make up your body, but your soul which is going to be around forever in one of two places, heaven or hell.  It’s as simple as that.  Where will you be?  Praise God that He has provided for the eternal state of the soul.