Mar 4 - Mark 8.36

For what will it profit them

to gain the whole world

and forfeit their life?

Mark 8:36

I remember going to the stores with my kids when they were young. They constantly said, "I NEED some more Legos." "I NEED a coke from a vending machine." "I NEED a new batman action figure." 

Stores always seemed a good time for vocabulary lesson. "You may NEED a drink, but no, you don't NEED a Coke. You simply WANT your drink to be a Coke." 

It's tempting to laugh at our kids and think that we as adults are above confusing wants and needs.

We aren't, of course. One of things that Jesus talks about most in this world is money. Why? Because we constantly confuse wants and needs. We also fear -- will it be enough? To take care of our family at an artificial standard that our society sets, we work harder and harder and never see the family we're supposedly working for.

Jesus asks, "What will it profit [you] to gain [even] the whole world, and forfeit [your] life?"

What do you need to forfeit, so you can start living more fully again? Workaholism? Fear? A bad vocabulary that confuses wants and needs?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to gain

a whole life