Chapter 16

          "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"

{Matthew 16:26}

            We all have dreams.  Some are bigger than others, they change, they grow, they get accomplished.  But to what cost?  Sure, there are some dreams that don't cost much at all like; skydiving, running a marathon, getting down to a certain weight or seeing the ocean.  But what about bigger dreams like; travelling the world, building your dream home, owning your favorite car, graduating with a degree in something you love, owning a business, etc. ?  We all have dreams- some are attainable, some are not.

            When God created man, we were created to be in a relationship with Him.  We were created in His image, and He is the only one that completes our longings for satisfaction and contentment.  Sure, money can buy happiness, but only temporarily.  God's love quenches the hunger and thirst that pangs the deepest parts of our being.      The sad thing is, many people in the world realize this hunger and thirst, but don't understand that God is the only One who can satisfy it.  Instead, they go chasing after their dreams, hoping they might just get enough and be content forever.  But it doesn't end there.  Some people try and fill this void with a career that they can be successful in.  Hoping that once they climb the corporate ladder, and manage people under them, have their own business card with an office facing the ocean that they will no longer have this desire for something.  Except you can't find your identity in who you are at the office, that job will one day end.  Then who are you? Some people try and satisfy this emptiness with a relationship, expecting the person to fulfill their craving for something.  Except it is not humanly possible for a person to fill this spot- so many end the relationship/marriage thinking they didn't find the "one" and search for that perfect person.  They don't exist.   Some people have a list of things they want to own in their lifetime, and since they are just feeling this daunting emptiness, they go in debt and buy everything on that list, thinking that if they owned everything they ever want, they wouldn't have that longing for something.  Except life gets even worse when they realize they are broke, and still unhappy.  

            You can fill your life with anything and everything and it will bring temporary joy, sure- but at what cost have you pursued this happiness that will end all too quickly?  You waste you energy, time and money seeking to obtain the perfect career that makes you tons of money so that you can travel the world, buy everything you ever wanted and offer a relationship to some other desperate person on the same dead end trail.   

            Nobody lies on their deathbed and wishes they bought more.  God doesn't say, "Wow, you were really successful on earth, buying this and that, working overtime every day- I think you earned your ticket to heaven."  God will say however, "You invested your time, energy and money in the wrong thing."   The Bible doesn't say the way to life is to buy all you can and be all you can be.  But rather, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, nobody goes to the Father except through Him.  {John 14:6

           "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" Matthew 6:19-24 says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." If you are trying to fill the void in your heart with things, the things might reward you for a time, but when the day comes that you die, your things will not save you- you will have forfeited your soul to obtain them.  If you fill your heart with Jesus and allow Him to satisfy your deepest hunger,  you will be truly satisfied, and your soul will one day meet Him.

On Matthew Chapter 16

• Leanne