Profit and Loss

Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

This is one of the saying of the Lord which clued me in quite early that I was missing just how serious salvation really is and how much I was not grasping in the life-issue of our soul. It is easy to comprehend the physical world that are perceived by our five senses, though understanding what we think and why we do what we do can get complicated. I’ve read and observed that in these materialistic days, many people have naturally become abnormally occupied with investments and returns, capital gains and losses, balance sheets and cash flows. This is nothing new, of course. The prevalence of covetousness is so universal, in one form or another, which God had to place a prohibition on it in the Ten Commandments. I was slow putting the whole “covet” – to desire inordinately; to desire that which it is unlawful to obtain or possess; anything that ii put higher in importance than God, because it was one of the “Both ways” kind of things of life and the soul never seemed to cross my mind. I don’t owe my soul to the company store ... or did I.

Proverbs 13:7 “There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.”

One article pointed out that, in this verse above, the Lord Jesus made a heart-searching comparison one day, when He posed a surprising question relative to divine bookkeeping. Reality is that not even the riches of the entire world could purchase one human soul, yet men often seem willing to sacrifice their souls in pursuit of material riches and what they lead to in this life, but, what about godliness and being spiritual rich in this life and eternity? The temporal for the eternal? Is such an exchange really a sound investment? Merely to ask the question is to answer it.

Don’t get me wrong, earning wealth is good, if it is acquired honorably and by the will of God, but “coveting” wealth and “hoarding” wealth are foolish sins. That article stated that the true measure of profit and loss is the balance sheet kept in heaven. One must first glean an account there, however, and this means coming to God empty-handed, on the basis of Christ’s free gift of His own riches. 

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

Our soul is worth more than anything. He died for us, that we might live through Him. Then, once our heavenly account is established, here is real investment counseling: Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In Christ, Brian