Worldly Gain vs. Heavenly Purpose

Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

Every morning we wake up and face another day. Another 24 hours to spend doing the same things, being around the same people, doing the same tasks, going to the same job. What's the point? Why get up out of bed and spend another day doing what we did yesterday? Where is the meaning? Where is the purpose? What do we live for? Countless people around the world live life every day doing whatever they do without considering the point of it all, the meaning of their lives, the purpose of their being. Very few consider why we are here and what our destinies are. The purpose for living in this sinful, fallen, dog eat dog world. Most simply try to make the best out of it and want to accumulate as much stuff as possible before they die. Let's be as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. But that is relative, isn't it? When we look at life on earth a lifetime is very long, but when we look at eternity, our existence here is but a moment, a speck in time. Time is valuable, our most precious commodity. Most people look back at their lives in old age and have regrets of wasting time. there is so little of it to go around. All this begs the question: where is the profit in our existence? What is the meaning of being here on earth? What is it all about? How do we give our lives meaning and purpose? How do we find fulfillment?
Jesus tells us that even if we gain the whole world, but in the end lose our soul, we have gained nothing at all. To lose our souls is to lose everything in the grand scheme of things. To run after material gain is foolishness if in the end we lose it all. So how can we not lose our souls? Jesus just told His disciples in the previous verse that if they try to save their lives they will lose them and if they lose their lives for His sake they will gain them. The key then lies in losing our lives for His purposes, so that we may gain our souls in the end. God created us, He gave us purpose and meaning. In order for us to live in accordance with what we were designed for, we must follow the instructions of the designer. Jesus tells us to "first seek the kingdom of God and all these [material] things will be added to you." Let's then shift our focus and take our eyes off of us and our needs, wants, fears, and desires and look at what our creator tells us will give us meaning and purpose. His ultimate goal for our lives is to end up in heaven at His side and to bring as many people with us as possible. To achieve this we need to be kingdom minded disciples of Christ. The highest profit is to gain access to the heavenly throne room for all eternity. Why try to gain the world, when we can gain eternity?

Application
Are my goals and desires lining up with God's will for my life? Today I will pray that God take away any ambitions to gain worldly success that I still have.