As we consider where to turn for satisfaction, we were reminded during the weekend message that we need to reflect on our chief goal in life. You see, our end goal will impact everything we do. If our goal is to please people, our decisions will reflect that goal, and we will end up empty and unsatisfied. If we make it our goal to honor God in everything we do, our lives will reflect our desire to live our lives for Him and Him alone, and we will find ourselves deeply satisfied in Him.
Jesus called His disciples to make it their goal to live for eternity in Matthew 16. As He taught in this passage of Scripture, Jesus said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (verse 25). This teaching from Jesus is clear. If we live for ourselves, our needs, and the things of this world, we will end up empty. After all, nothing in this world will last forever. We cannot take anything from this world into eternity. After calling His people to live for the eternal things that will last forever, Jesus summarized His teaching with this question, “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (verse 26). The obvious answer to this question is, “Nothing.” We gain nothing if we gain the world but lose our souls because the things of this world are temporary. Our souls are eternal. Next, Jesus asked one more poignant question, “Is anything worth more than your soul?” Once again, the answer is “No, nothing is more valuable than our souls.” As a result, wisdom would tell us that the eternal things of God and His kingdom are what we should focus on.
The words that Jesus spoke all those years ago still ring true today. Nothing is more valuable than our souls. We could gain the whole world searching for significance and meaning, but if we lose our souls, we will have gained nothing. If we choose to live for God and His kingdom that will last forever, we will find fulfillment, satisfaction, and contentment in Him. Let’s choose today to focus on the eternal matters of the soul. Let’s focus on Christ. There is nothing more valuable we can do with our lives.
One way to focus on God and His kingdom is to worship Him with fellow believers. Make a plan to join us for one of our weekend services this weekend. Invite a friend who needs His hope, too. We can’t wait to see you there!
1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
2 He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times! 4 Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.
5 Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9 Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10 Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? 11 Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”
12 Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
