The Stakes Of Life Are High - Men Set Yourself Up For Success
What is your definition of success? How is success
ultimately measured? Let us examine the scripture.
Mark 8:36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
This quotation has become the plot for many novels, movies and in reality the lives of some people. I remember one story where a man had gained the whole world. In doing so, he filled his life with riches and lost sight of righteousness. While he was enjoying the company of another who was not his, an incident happened. It was a simple thing like missing a turn off the road he was traveling. That simple mistake turned into a tragedy. That simple missed turn started the crumbling of what he had gained in the world and the closure of the loss of his soul.
What else can we also derive from Mark 8:36? The object is to become aware of your soul and know how to keep from losing your soul. What then will it profit a man? By the ultimate success of ever lasting life in heaven.
How do we become aware of our souls?
2 Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
We use God's word to enable us to see the things that are not seen. We use his word to cast our vision beyond the finite life on earth towards eternity. God's word enables thinking that is no longer limited by life on earth or time. Now eyes are cast towards things that are not seen, but eternal.
The transformation: The realization that worldly things are temporary. Our physical bodies, our bank account, our net worth are temporary. Additionally, in the big scheme of things worldly things don't matter one little bit. A friend of mine once said that he never saw a Uhaul trailer behind a hearse.
I started this lesson with a story about a man who gained the whole world and lost his soul. We all write the end to our own story. What is the ending you want to write for your story?
I want you to understand that an invitation is an act of asking or requesting those who have listened to the lesson, who may not have become a Christian - those that have not come to the Lord in the way He has asked - please do so.
If someone in this audience is thinking, "What must I do to be saved?" it is my duty today to make a clear answer to such an inquisitive soul. The response to the invitation involves obeying some specific commands after all this is the Lord's invitation -- not mine. That if you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus is the son of God, the Christ, and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Then Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." You see the gospel is personally appealing to you to obey the word. God is asking you, for God wants all to be saved and is waiting for you to respond. Since God is asking, and not me, please be aware of the urgency and the need for action.
Consider His invitation, it requires a RSVP.
Contributors: Indiucky