The Worth of Our Souls
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:35-37, NKJV).
A magazine article told about a special high school where students were doing exceptional work. Their level of academic achievement far exceeded that of most students in the same age bracket anywhere else in the country. These kids, young, ambitious, and bright, seemed destined to go places, to be, by the world's standards, true success stories. The magazine then quoted one of these young people, who said: "We're doing all this in order to beat death."
To beat death? He is going to need more than good grades and a good job to do that.
The fact is that no matter who we are, or what we achieve in this life, sooner or later death comes, sooner or later everything we are ends up in a grave somewhere. And how long do we live, at best? For most of us, not even a hundred years, often not even close. And then it is all gone. What can it mean? What is the purpose of it all, if it all ends in death? What kind of legacy will we leave behind? Thousands of years ago, Solomon mused over these same issues (see Ecclesiastes 1, 2), and concluded that this life, in and of itself, with all its toils and troubles, was all vanity, from a Hebrew word meaning "breath," "vapor."
With this in mind, read over the texts for today, thinking about them in the context of this week's lesson, on discipleship in action. Ask yourself, in light of what Jesus is saying here, "What kind of life should I be living? What does it mean to lose my life for the sake of the gospel? What possibly could be worth my own soul? And what role does my discipling of others play in what Jesus is saying to me?" In other words, what could it cost us here, in this life, to be actively involved in discipleship? What changes do you need to make in order to be truly a disciple of Christ?
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