Mark 8:36-37, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
If you took the net worth of all the people of the world it would be over $241 trillion dollars. If all 7 billion people on earth sold everything they had and paid all that they owe, the remaining money left would be their net worth. Imagine all the people you know standing in the street with no possessions… just the left-over money from selling everything. If you divided all the money… $241 trillion dollars, evenly among just the adult population it would be around $51,600 dollars per person. If you converted the $241 trillion into a cube of gold and divided the cube into equal parts all worth $51,600, each adult would end up with a cube of gold about the size of a golf ball!
When God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross to pay the debt for your sins, He was saying that you are worth more than the value of the whole world. It’s fair to say that Jesus understood that the value of your soul… your one soul… is worth more than $241 trillion dollars to God. Since God owns everything, He would place a value on your soul even higher!
If you choose to exchange the value of your soul and live your life exchanging a personal, authentic relationship with Him with the trappings of the world… you can be sure you’ve made a bad deal.
Here’s a real question every person should answer, “What will it profit a person if they gain the whole world and lose their own soul?” You may get everything the world has to offer but in the end it will all be a loss if you don’t pursue an authentic personal relationship with God.
Here’s something else to consider. When you accept Christ as your Savior you are bought with a price and you are choosing Him and His gift of Salvation. You are now bought with a price and you are not your own. An authentic Christ-follower understands this spiritual exchange and moves forward living in the new reality that my life is not my own… I belong to Christ and now choose to listen to His voice and follow Him.
Mark 8:36-37, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
1 Cor. 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are BOUGHT with a PRICE: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
*I want to thank my good friend Wally Anderson from Indiana for the inspiration for this devotional. Wally volunteers with our outreach ministry to high-risk youth in Indiana and has led many youth to Christ.
How has God been at work in your life. Post a comment or share your thoughts with others on this topic. Call us and share your thought s or topics you’d like to see covered at 423-381-0018.
Ken Turner
Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/
Email me at kenturner@highimpactteens.org
