What is Your Priority? 6/4/2012

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:36-37

There was never a time that Christ interacted with men and women that he did not leave them with words of wisdom with eternal implications. In this instance he speaks on prioritizing the spiritual over against the secular, the promised over against the present and the heavenly over against the earthly. As we look around, it is easy to see the value that humanity places on money, material, financial success and accumulation and fame. Forbes magazine routinely publishes lists of the richest individuals and organizations in the world. These are by far more popular than some of their other offerings. It is against both the background of men's minds 2000 years ago and perhaps even more so today that Jesus asks this rhetorical question.

Beloved you will recall the story of the rich young ruler. He was willing to pass on the heaven he requested in order to maintain his earthly possessions. Clearly his possessions, as much as they may have been, could not have come close to owning everything in the world that exists. No one can. Jesus asks, even if one could own all that there is, it all disintegrates into insignificance when weighed against one's eternity. James famously says, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" James 4:14b. What good does it to have every indulgence imaginable for the relative blink of an eye, only to suffer hell for a time longer than one can imagine?  The purusuit of such things most certainly relagates God to secondary status if recognized at all.

The Lord is telling us to prioritize. He is not critical of possessions or wealth, however, he is critical of placing them above all that God offers to the faithful. None should desire or own anything that will keep him or her on this planet when Christ calls us home.

Rejoicing in the Lord,

Lee