Numbers 33 & 34, Luke 9: 10-27, Psalm 56
Luke 9: 25 (ESV)
“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and loses or forfeits himself?
Verse 25 from Luke 9 has been the subject of many book and
movies since Jesus first uttered these word. Jesus asked what good is having wealth
and power in the world, if it mean you will lose yourself and your soul. In my
study Bible, the authors wrote that this is the same wisdom set forth in Ecclesiastes
which questions the value of earthly wealth and pursuits. Sometimes I think it is
the ultimate irony that our world preaches that to go after wealth and power
saying that these pursuits will bring us all the happiness in the world. Yet we
can read countless stories of people who have done just that and realized they needed
more in their lives that their money and power couldn’t buy. Sometimes it’s
been health. A person becomes the richest person in the world with lots of
power and then they die early. Sometimes it’s been the happiness of a love relationship.
There are many stories of people who have enormous wealth and power, and jump
from one marriage to another, or who have kids who hate them. Sometimes it’s
the feeling of trust. They are other stories of very wealthy powerful people
who don’t trust anyone and live in a world of paranoia.
Human beings seem to need more than what the physical world
can provide. Our souls seem to need a connection to God. If we deny that
connection to pursue other things, our soul suffers. We might not be suffering
from the effects of not having enough money and feeling like we have no power, but
we will suffer from the emptiness of any connection to God. When the soul
suffers inside of us, I think that suffering eventually spreads to the rest of
our life. To have faith in Jesus Christ gives our soul a connection to God, and
a way to daily feed and satisfy our soul.
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