The Cost of One's Soul

"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" -Matthew 16:26 & Mark 8:36 NLT

What is a soul?

It is interesting what Jesus is implying at in the above verse. If one was to gain the whole world I am sure most people would agree that it would be an impressive feat, but Jesus is saying our own soul is more valuable. From Biblestudytools.com, a soul is "a moral being designed for everlasting life ...and is not dissolved by death." Therefore a soul is not a part of our physical bodies, but a separate entity that happens to reside within our physical bodies. Yet will continue to exist after our physical bodies pass away.

And just like how our physical bodies will pass away, this physical world will one day cease to exist. It says in 1 John 2:17 "this world is fading away," continuing on "along with everything that people crave." Now what it is that people crave? 1 John 2:16 states that "the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions." What is the problem with craving such things? Verse 16 continues saying that "These are not from the Father, but are from this world." So just like how the physical world will eventually end, our worldly desires will pass away as well.

Is there hope?
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love this world you do not have the love of the Father in you.
-1 John 2:15 NLT
If we do not want to just physically pass away, and our souls then continue on in purgatory, we need to have the love of the Father in us. 1 John 2:17 ends by saying "anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." The cost of gaining the whole world is a non-physical existence without the Father's love. The cost of not losing one's soul is eternity surrounded, saturated, and completely soaked in the Father's love. Which one would you rather chose?

PRAYER 
(adapted from Deuteronomy 4:26-31)

Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses. 

If we break His covenant, we will quickly disappear from the land we are occupying. We will have only lived there a short time; then be utterly wrecked. For the Lord will scatter us among the nations, where only a few of us will survive. There, in foreign lands, we will crave physical pleasure - crave for things we can see, and have pride in our achievements and possessions; thing that are not from Him. But from there we can search again for the Lord our God. And if we search for Him with all our heart and soul, we will find Him. 

As He has said, “when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what He tells you. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant He made with our predecessors.”

All glory to our Heavenly Father!
Amen
‭‭

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