“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. 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? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:34-38).”
Jesus called His disciples and the multitudes together and delivered to them one of life’s supreme consideration: the value of one’s soul.
Most of us probably like to think we know what matters most. We like to think we can tell the difference between what has true, lasting value and what has not. The Lord does not make any such assumption. He wants everyone to give a long hard think about it.
So what really matters ultimately? We can sense from the words of Jesus that this is not a subjective matter.
One might argue thus: I’m not a Christian so why should I care? To such persons we invite them to consider with an open and honest heart the many evidence for the existence of God and the reliability of the Bible, which are easily available online.
Supposing God exists (and He does) and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (which He is) and the Bible is the breathed-out Word of God (which it is), we can see that the challenge by Jesus to consider the value of our souls is unavoidable. To refuse to consider is itself a decision to live in denial and escapism.
God made mankind (cf. Gen 2:7); He is the Creator and life-Giver. The value of our souls is determined by Him, not us. But ultimately, a wrong decision on our part can jeopardise the value of our souls and plunge us into a tragic state.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
The choices are placed openly on the table. There is nothing ambiguous about it; nothing to conceal. The Life-giver wants us to trust Him with our lives.
A long time ago a friend who was a life-guard explained to me the basics of rescuing a drowning person. If the person is conscious and struggling, the rescuer should try to communicate with him and assure him that the rescuer is here to help and that he should trust the rescuer.
If the person panics and begins to drag the rescuer into the water, the latter is to push the person a short distance off rather than to be pulled down and drown together. Verbal assurances must be constant. Until the person calms down sufficiently to trust the rescuer, it is hard to pull him to safety.
The person in distress must ‘let go’ and trust the rescuer. Jesus wants us to quit trying to be our own saviour and do it His way.
“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?”
Jesus points out that the value of your soul is infinitely more than all the gains of this temporal world. Money can’t buy everything but whatever money can buy, it pales to nothingness in comparison to the value of your soul.
We may earn all the affections and accolades from the world but we bring none of it with us to the hereafter. None of the people we love or who love us can decide for us. None of them can help us if we made the wrong choice.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 6:23).”
God is not a nasty old man looking over your shoulder to catch you doing something wrong and then punish you for it. He loves you and has freely given His Son to save you.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:16-17).”
Think about it. There really is no one to blame if we made the wrong choice. We cannot blame God because He has done everything possible for us to be saved. He offers the gift of eternal life to us in His Son.
You have the free-will (which is itself a gift of God) to accept or reject His gift. But so that we do not misunderstand—we do not get to decide the conditions and consequences. It is either His way or no way.
Imagine the drowning person demanding the rescuer to save him in the way he prefers, while continuing to splash wildly trying to save himself. It’s silly and unreasonable, really.
These words of Jesus were spoken not only to the public in general but to His disciples as well. “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them…”
Christians, please don’t take anything for granted. Never lose sight of the value of your soul. Never forget what it cost God to rescue you from the danger of hell. Never be afraid to profess your faith in righteous living and spreading the gospel.
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Jurong Outreach 