"What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
Have you ever stopped to examine the things in a salvage yard? I mean really looked at what's in there? Well yesterday I did. The rural out and back gravel course that I ran passed by an aging salvage yard. As I slowed down to get a good view of the "junk" that had been sitting there so long that the earth was now growing around it, I saw an old family station wagon, the remnants of a few sports cars, a couple boats and a litany of other abandoned trucks, trailers and automobiles. I wondered to myself how many of these rusty and decaying objects were once viewed so valuable that the owners pursued them rather than Christ?
When it comes to chasing after the things of this world, namely material possessions, Jesus asked this question, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" He was reminding us that on the day you and I stand before God (and we all will) there will not be even one earthly possession we can hold onto and not one thing we will ever have acquired that can be offered in exchange for Salvation. The only thing that will matter is this... whether we accepted Jesus or rejected him-whether we pursued Christ or the world.
So you still think that new car or the other belongings you have are worth the hours you put in at work? Maybe even so important that they rival or totally overshadow the time you give to God? I invite you then for a personal tour of that salvage yard to see what happened to the many things others thought were that important. I wonder what they think now?
Heavenly Father, thank you for the simple lessons that you teach us when we pay attention. Help us to put what we actually need to get by in this world into eternal perspective. Give us discerning hearts to know what is truly important. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
Give me Jesus - Jeremy Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFJGsBApIuk
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