#4 QUESTION: HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU?

Children trading toys often catch our attention. Boys may trade a yellow, racing car for a red, fire truck. A little girl might trade a pink, doll dress for a blue bonnet for her Raggedy Ann doll. As teenagers or even as adults, we may trade our virtue for momentary pleasure. Occasionally, such trades go astray and one party or the other is unhappy and feels cheated. We have an expression, “He paid too much for his whistle.” Sometimes, the cost is too high to trade and the deal cannot go through, or the item is too valuable to be traded at any price.

Jesus talked about such trading in Mark 8:37:

“For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

What Jesus is saying is ‘If you lose your soul, what can you use to trade and get it back?’

A few moments before this question, Jesus had explained to His disciples that He was destined to die, Mark 8:31:

“… he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things… and be killed,”

Peter rebuked the thought of Jesus dying. But, Jesus rebuked Peter as being influenced by the devil, Mark 8:33:

“Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus was telling Peter that he was thinking like a worldly man.

Jesus turned to the crowd and explained this problem of trading something of tremendous value for something of no value, Mark 8:34-37:

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

Since His death would be soon, Jesus is making plain the cost of discipleship. To follow Jesus, one would need to deny self, take up His cross, and listen to and obey Him.

Denying of self can be a problem. Often, we dedicate ourselves to our own interests—like making money, being famous, or enjoying the pleasures of this life.

Jesus knew about the problem of denying self and explained clearly the end result of such a life in another parable about a rich but foolish farmer. He said a rich man was blessed with bountiful crops. Instead of thanking God and helping the needy, he thought only of himself, built larger barns to store his crops, and proceeded to live a life of luxury while he left out God and depended only on himself, Luke 12:19-21:

“And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

The tragedy of this story is that the man was not rich toward God and lost his soul.

This is what Jesus is talking about when He says a man might gain the whole world and lose his life or eternal soul. Then, in eternity, what would he have to trade and get his soul back? Even if you could find some way to gain the whole world and then retain it after death, it would not be enough to trade and get your soul back. That is the value of your soul!

Sadly, some folks will not realize how much their soul is worth until the judgment day! Then it will be too late.

Jesus explained how to keep from losing your soul; namely, by denying self, taking up your cross, and following Jesus.

  1. Denying self means that I put Jesus and His cause before me and my wants. He is more important than me!
  2. Taking up my cross means to constantly be aware that to live for Jesus may costs me my life.
  3. Following Jesus means to listen and obey His commands. In speaking to His disciples, Jesus explained obedience in John 14:15:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

If the three things that Jesus requires seem hard to do, think of the personal cost of losing your soul and then not being able to trade to get it back in eternity.

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