Tag Archives: value

What is life worth? (Mark 8:34-9:1) August 10, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 93-95

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:34-9:1
Jesus: If any one of you wants to follow Me, you will have to give yourself up to God’s plan, take up your cross, and do as I do. For any one of you who wants to be rescued will lose your life, but any one of you who loses your life for My sake and for the sake of this good news will be liberated. Really, what profit is there for you to gain the whole world and lose yourself in the process? What can you give in exchange for your life? If you are ashamed of Me and of what I came to teach to this adulterous and sinful generation, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when He comes in the glory of His Father along with the holy messengers at the final judgment.
Truly, some of you who are here now will not experience death before you see the kingdom of God coming in glory and power.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I did another one of those quick Google searches today after reading these words of Jesus. His question about what can you give in exchange for your life made me think about the number of suicides that take place in our country every day. So I looked up the number. The websites admit that the number is probably not completely accurate. Some of those that commit suicide are probably not captured in the statistics represented in figures we get in the category called suicide given to us by those who perform autopsies and report those things to the authorities across the country.

You might wonder why someone wouldn’t report correctly, but there are a lot of reasons. If a person runs their car into a tree, is it an accident or suicide? The coroner doesn’t know and will more than likely call it an accident. If someone takes the wrong combination of prescription medications and dies in their sleep, is it an accident or suicide? The coroner often doesn’t know and will more than likely call it an accident. Often only the person who commits the act knows the answer and most often, the one writing the cause of death on the death certificate will shy away from calling a death a suicide because of the impact on the family when a death is declared a suicide.

You see, most insurance companies do not pay life insurance and sometimes even related health insurance costs to the beneficiaries if death is a result of suicide, so the family instantly suffers significant financial burdens. The family also suffers the pain, emotional, and psychological stigma that goes along with suicides. “Why didn’t I see it? What could I have done to prevent it? Did I contribute to it? Could I have done anything different over the last days or weeks or months to make him or her feel different about themselves to stop this senseless act? Am I or my children now predisposed to follow in their footsteps? How do I prevent it from happening again in my family?”

What is the number of people who throw their life away in desperation every day? That quick Google search says its about 117 a day in the United States. 117 decide there is nothing else to live for and the only way out is to just stop living. They love themselves little enough and feel others love them little enough that taking their own life is the best way to solve their problem. What a tragedy.

Jesus talks about the value of life. What can we give in exchange for our life? He, the creator of all things, says there is nothing more valuable than life. We could gain the whole world and it would not be worth our life. That’s how valuable one person, one soul, one life is to God. Somewhere along the line in the last several years we quit teaching our children just how valuable life is. Somehow we stopped valuing life as the precious commodity God created.

We can blame that failure on the violent television shows and movies or the violent video games our kids play. We can blame the failure on nature of the comics they read or the books they are exposed to in school and the literature that’s popular. But the truth is the failure comes as a result of what we teach our children and grandchildren in our homes as parents and grandparents. It’s the truths we pass down from generation to generation and instill in them by living those truths in front of them each day that teach them life, every life is worth more than all the wealth in all the world.

How do we fail in that effort? What do you tell your children about terrorists? They are still souls Jesus died for? How do you talk about gang members on the street? Jesus died for them. What do you say when your elementary school-aged child brings home the slang titles of a different race? God created them, too. Each person on earth is created by God. He died on a cross for their sins just as He died on the cross for yours and He died on the cross for mine.

Until we recognize the value of every life and begin to teach our children and their children the value of every life, we will continue to see society throw lives away. It might be by suicides or murders or abuse of children and the elderly or negligence of a race or socioeconomic group, but we will throw some group of people away as unimportant. But Jesus thinks every life is so important and so valuable that He gave His own life to redeem each one. What is each life worth to Him? Everything including His own.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What is your soul worth? (Matthew 16:23-28) April 16, 2016

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Jeremiah 17-21

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:23-28
Jesus (turning to Peter): Get away from Me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block before Me! You are not thinking about God’s story; you are thinking about some distorted story of fallen, broken people. (to His disciples) If you want to follow Me, you must deny yourself the things you think you want. You must pick up your cross and follow Me. The person who wants to save his life must lose it, and she who loses her life for Me will find it. Look, does it make sense to truly become successful, but then to hand over your very soul? What is your soul really worth? The Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory, with His heavenly messengers, and then He will reward each person for what has been done. I tell you this: some of you standing here, you will see the Son of Man come into His kingdom before you taste death.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Sometimes I like reading about Peter. I want to be so much like him when he does things like step out of the boat or be part of the group that serves the 5,000 those baskets of bread and fish or declares that Jesus is the Son of the living God. At other times, like today, I really don’t want to be much like Peter, but I’m afraid I’m more like him than I want to admit. Peter declares his loyalty to Jesus and says I won’t let anyone or anything harm you. I’ll die before I let them take you!

Boy, I’d like to say those words, just like Peter. And I think I would die for my faith. I would die for Jesus. I haven’t been put in that place yet. I haven’t faced the knives in the hands of ISIS terrorists or the torture of government sponsored atheists in China or the killing squads hunting down Christians in the Sudan. I can’t guarantee that I would die for my faith, but I think I would. I’m pretty sure I would lose my life for Him.

But then, look what happens. Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get away from Me, Satan!” Ouch! Peter, unbeknownst to him was being used by the prince of darkness. I do not want to be like Peter in that circumstance, but if I were a betting man, I would bet my words have been a stumbling block to someone at one time or another. Something I have said led someone down a path I did not want them to go or God did not want them to go.

It’s so easy isn’t it? Peter thought he was doing the right thing. He was standing up for his Lord. He was doing what any good soldier in this world would do for his leader. But Jesus isn’t from this world. He has a different set of rules. He comes from a different realm and wants to raise us to that same plane on which He lives and loves. He wants to teach us what life is really about. The life the Father intended for us. Jesus saw this physical world’s goals creeping into Peter’s mindset. Jesus wanted to get it out. Jesus saw Satan’s clutches grabbing hold and replacing the Father’s goal with worldly goals, replacing temporary biological life with real, true eternal life.

So Jesus lashes out. He uses the same words He used in the wilderness temptation. Get away from Me, Satan! You’re a stumbling block. You’re not focused on the right story. You’re focused on temporary things. You’re focused on the world’s idea of success, not mine or the Father’s. I know where I’m headed and I can’t take any shortcuts. Don’t try to entice Me with your false trophies. The things you are thinking about come from the distorted view of fallen, broken man. Centuries of disobedience to the Father and the lies of Satan have shaped your story! Get away from Me.

No, as often as I would like to be like Peter, I wouldn’t want to be Peter at that moment.

Then, Jesus takes Peter and the others under His wing and explains what His path is like. Follow the Father’s will. It’s not always an easy path. In fact, in the world’s view it looks a lot like a cross and suffering and pain. In the world’s view, it looks like defeat and agony and death. But when you take up your cross and follow Jesus, it means life, joy, peace, sharing in His glory, joining the family of the Father. It means an eternity with Him, never bothered again by the evil in this world because Satan has already been defeated.

When we lose our life in Him, we find our life in Him. When we try to keep our life, we lose it. He goes on to ask an important question if we try to weigh the difference between our physical life with our spiritual one. The answer is an incomprehensible amount. What can you give in exchange for your soul? What temporary thing is your eternal soul worth? There is no worldly thing that compares, yet we trade it for such fleeting pleasure. Jesus tells us in His words, focus on the important. Get your eyes off the world. Set your sights on God and His kingdom. Think on eternal values. Those will get you through.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.