What's Your Goal?

²⁶For 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?
-Matthew 16:26 (KJV)

I came from a business background. In fact, I worked for a Chick-fil-A store from 1989 until 2004. I was the general manager of the location. Profit and loss is a big part of business. Every business wants to earn a profit and keep the losses to a minimum. When you think about it, life is the same way. Many of us want to profit from life, while keeping our life losses to a minimum.

Jesus asked "for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Another way to read that verse is "For what is a man benefited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" What are your goals this day? Is it just to make it through another workday? Is your goal that you can share your faith with someone today? Goal setting is another business topic that I think applies here. Many, many people, Christians included, set goals for their life and careers. They set goals like, "I want to retire at 55." "By the age of 35, I want two kids, a house by the lake, and a vacation home in the mountains." Maybe your goals are not like those I mentioned. But, what does all this have to do with the verse I quoted? Let me tell  you.

Jesus is asking a question that is vital to our life. What benefit do we have in accumulating wealth and possessions? None. We can't take those things with us. So, what are we benefited if we gain the whole world, yet lose our souls to hell? We are not benefited in any way. Let's back up and look at verses 24-25, "²⁴Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Look at what Jesus told His disciples. If we will come after Jesus, meaning if we follow Him, we must: deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. We must deny ourselves. This is where we start submitting ourselves to His will. This is where we start fulfilling what God wants us to do. It's where our thoughts and desires and wants line up with the thoughts, desires and wants of Jesus for our lives. We must say "NO!" to ourselves and "YES!" to Jesus. We must take up our cross, we must be ready to die for Him. That's a hard pill to swallow, but we must be ready to die. We must die to self. Paul said in Romans 6:6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Our sins has been paid for, why do we still live like they control us. We must not serve sin, we must die to self to live in Christ. Then, we can follow Him.

Discipleship means a total commitment to Christ. Are you willing to give Him total control of your life? What are your goals? For me, it is to become more like Jesus. Think About It.