Day 92.

“For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?” Matt.16:26 NASB. Other translations have ‘life’ instead of soul, which is what ‘soul’ means anyway. The soul is not some airy fairy entity that floats off at death. The formula is simple as outlined in Genesis 2:7 God breathed into man the breath of life (Hebrew: ruach or spirit) and he became a living soul or being (Hebrew: Nephesh). While the KJV had translated nephesh as soul nearly all modern translations have “living person.”
The Emperor Charlemagne’s remains are now in a sarcophagus below the floor of the Aachen cathedral in Germany. He died in 815 AD. According to his original instructions he was “buried” in a tomb sitting on his throne with his Crown, royal rob on his shoulders, his sceptre in his hand, and a copy of the New Testament on his lap. His tomb was first opened by the Emperor Otto III in the year 1000. It was noted that his royal rob was in tatters, the crown had slipped down onto the shoulder of his skeleton. The sceptre he was buried holding, had fallen to the ground and his skeletal hand had fallen onto the Bible in his lap that was open to Matthew 16. His finger was pointing to V26. While I am not making any judgement on Charlemagne, who was supposedly a Christian I am commenting on the verse highlighted above. The futility of chasing fame, fortune, or wealth is Solomon’s declaration of “chasing after the wind.”

There is an eastern parable that tells the story of a traveler who was attacked by a wild beast. The traveler climbed down a well but noticed there was a dragon at the bottom. So, he clung to a branch of a bush growing out from the wall. Some mice appeared and began to nibble at the branch he was clinging to. Recognizing the hopelessness of his situation and yet taking advantage of every good in it, he reached out with his finger and plucked the nectar from a flower on the bush. Ignoring the dragon and the mice yet seeking the honey! This is life to so many – and not just amongst the young!

There is an Arabic saying that, translated, says, “The old black camel stops at everyone’s door.” Man is born crying, lives complaining and (without Christ) dies disappointed. Many a person will find on their death bed that Gold makes a hard pillow. All that belongs to created life has on it the mark of failure unless we learn the lesson and conclusion of this book. Nothing, apart from God, will meet people’s needs.