"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      

A Christian cannot carry water on both shoulders. He cannot follow Christ while still clinging with half of his heart to the treasures and pleasures of this world, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." As little as we can walk in two directions at once, so little can we belong to both Christ and this world.      

Jesus spoke of this matter repeatedly during His ministry. In His Sermon on the Mount He said: "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mannon. He made it perfectly clear that we must choose between Him and the love of earthly attractions.      

Christian friends, Our LORD knows how hard it is even for us to place spiritual treasures ahead of earthly things. After all earthly treasures are visible. They can be handled and seen, while the spirtual life is a matter of faith. And so Jesus here is comparing values for us. In the end, very soon, all earthly treasures will pass away. When we die, they lose their value for us. But the soul lives eternally. A lost soul in hell means eternal misery; a saved soul, eternal glory. So choose wisely, Jesus means to say. "Do not sell your soul for the brief pleasure that the money and goods of this earth can bring you."  

The cost of rejecting Christ, my friend, Will be paid at the close of life; You must pay with your soul at the bar of God, When your conscience will cut like a knife.  

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - He who provides for this life but not for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever.