(Mark 8:36)
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Last night, my wife and I went to see the new comedy movie "Bedazzled." Not a
very good movie; however, for more than likely unsaved Hollywood writers,
had a great deal of truth in it. The premise was the devil, played by model
Elizabeth Hurley, granted an average young man 7 wishes in exchange for his
soul. Of course the young man wished for what most 20 something young men
would want. Lots of money, power, a beautiful wife, intelligence. As he
used up the wishes, the old adage, "be careful what you wish for" became
very real. In one line, he told the devil, "you don't play fair". All in
all, it was a very average movie, not that I am a critic, but would give it
a C. By the way, it is rated PG-13, no sex although sexual situations, and
the language was actually very tame. It actually isn't a bad movie to see
if you try to view it from a theological perspective.
The point of the Devotional today is that while we can laugh at this
Hollywood portrayal of "selling our soul" to the devil, the reality is we
actually do it. How many times in our life have we literally sold our
souls, turning from what we knew was God's will to fulfill our will. Every
time you choose to rebel against God, you are selling yourself. The sad
reality is that you always sell yourself cheap. What you give up versus
what you get is never worth it. I first heard this passage of scripture
back in 1989. It was at one of the lowest points in my life. I had
literally sold myself for the things of this world. I was driving down the
freeway in Chicago at 3 a.m. I was soon going to have to pay for all of my
rebellion. As I flipped through the radio stations, I came across the
booming voice of Dr. Joseph Stowell who bellowed..."what does it profit a
man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" Despite my
rebellion, despite having turned my back on God for so many years, it was as
if God Himself was calling down from the Heavens to me.
To their credit, the Hollywood writers of Bedazzled did show in the end
that if we deal with the devil, we lose. No matter what we may get, it is
not worth our soul. Let me take it to the correct conclusion that, of course,
they did not. Even if we had everything we wanted in this life, even if we
had all this world had to offer, what is it worth in the light of eternity?
You see my friend, this life as we know it is very brief. It is but for a
season. Eternity is for everlasting. Our focus, our goals, our motivation
should not be solely focused on this existence, but our everlasting
existence. That is why the most important decision we will ever make in
this life is where we will spend that eternity. Let me say, if you do not
know where your eternity will be spent, you can make that decision now.
Simply go to my website www.liveprayer.com and click on "Salvation." God
loves you, and has made a way for you to spend your eternity with Him.
I love you. I care about you so much. Almost without realizing it, we
often sell ourselves to the devil. The Lord told us clearly, you cannot
serve two masters. Each time we make a decision, we are choosing which
master to serve. We will either serve the god of this world, or the God of
the universe. When we choose the god of this world, we are never satisfied,
never happy, it never really works. When we serve God Almighty, we then can
know the true joy, peace, and abundance this life can offer. It works. I
will be praying for you to choose God. You see, when you choose the god of
this world, it requires you to pay a price. When you choose God your
Creator, the price has already been paid. He says "Come all you who
are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and
eat!" You see, Jesus already paid the price.
