Thursday, March 23, 2006

What can money buy you?

How do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:26)

A ship with about a hundred passengers was wrecked on a South Seas island. Thankfully, all lives were saved, together with sufficient food for several months’ existence and several sacks of seed for springtime planting. But the men had hardly assessed their situation when someone discovered gold on the island. The men began to dig and pan furiously, heaping up gold for themselves and forgetting all about the seed and the need to plant and harvest. When the fall winds began to blow and the cold of winter settled over them, they all died of starvation.

It is hard to understand such foolish behavior, but many today are no wiser. We are all living on an island called Earth. Winter is coming, the time when our bodies will succumb to fatal injury or terminal disease or old age. When winter comes, our souls will either suffer an eternity of dying with Satan in hell, or an eternity of joyful life with Jesus in heaven. In His mercy, our Lord has given us containers of seed—these containers are called Bibles. The seed is His live-giving Word. In order to have continued life come winter, all we need do is to tend the growth of this heavenly seed in our lives. Jesus says, the one who feeds on me will live because of me (John 6:57).

But this Earth is full of pretty gold, and it appeals to our greed. It is so tempting to concentrate on making money and buying things that many forget about taking time to nourish their souls. But you cannot eat gold. Money and the things it buys cannot keep your soul healthy. Jesus said, You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24).

If you want to survive the coming winter of your life, now is the time to tend the field. Now is the time to ask Jesus to forgive you for ignoring Him. Now is the time to worship God the Father in His house. Now is the time to study the Bible of the Lord Almighty on your own or with a friend. And don’t worry if time seems short, if you already feel the icy touch of winter in your bones; so long as you are alive, there is still time for Jesus to plant new life in you. The criminal on the cross next to Jesus did not repent and believe until mere hours before his death, yet Jesus told him, I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). No amount of gold can give you that promise.

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