"What shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
When Christ visited the ancient Americas, He prophesied that His chosen people would "sell [Him] for silver and for gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal" - 3 Nephi 27:32if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
How could anyone get to that point?
What brought Judas, the once chosen disciple, to the place where he willingly gave up the Kingdom of God and His relationship with the Savior in exchange for thirty pieces of lousy silver??
It's not just money that the sacred is sold for. It is given up in exchange for all kinds of "gain" - for appetite, praise, popularity, fame, friends, or attention. Esau, with his unsatisfiable hunger, willingly forsook his blessings of birthright for a "mess of pottage."
It's puzzling how unbalanced and grossly lopsided the trade-off is -Yet we see it all around us today: the Sabbath is traded in for sport and recreation, modesty is traded in for fashion and attention, the counsel of living prophets is exchanged for popular opinion, quiet communion with God is given up for the clamor and rant of "saving face" on social pages. The list goes on and on.
What other sacred things do we sell?
From the Mt. Sinai, Moses laid out the very first commandment from heaven, "Thou shalt have no other God's before me."
Why was this commandment first? The Savior taught, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God; and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33
"Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."
Nothing the world has to offer could ever compare to what God can give. The sacred is not something to be sold because it is beyond price, no earthy gain could match its infinite value.
The Lord desires to pour out blessings upon us but in order to receive them we must prove He is first priority. And as it is with every commandment kept and held close to our hearts, glorious promises are given. The wide path the world chooses is easy to recognize because so many go there but the narrow path is found by only a few - it takes "eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand."
Which road will we take?
"I'm tryin' to get somewhere that's real and pure and eternal...
No comments:
Post a Comment