Originally posted on Facebook January 3, 2021
Theme Verse:
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.” Mark 8:35
“Lose” from the Greek word “Apollymi” means “to destroy fully.” It is translated “perish” in our verse for today.
“And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
Matthew 5:29
You can profit from losing.
I think of my father. He was made blind so he could see. In an attempted homicide my dad was shot 4 times and left for dead. 2 of the shots were in his head causing total loss of sight in one eye and partial loss of sight in his other eye.
Legally blind, he wallowed in self pity and drunkenness for about a year. Yet, this very incident that brought so much loss in his life was the catalyst that compelled him to fall on his knees at the foot of the cross, trusting Christ as his Savior and receiving the free gift of eternal life. I never knew my dad to wallow in self pity over the loss of his eyesight again.
Some people said Polly Walters was not the same man after being shot in the head. Some even said he was not right in the head. I chuckle at that! Well, he definitely was not the same man. The old man was dead and Polly rose to walk in newness of life. He no longer walked by sight, he walked by faith.
Eternal gain far outweighs temporal loss.
“For 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