Note from the mamas: The Country Preacher Dad’s pastoral duties called this weekend, so we’re running a previous devotion from July 2009.
“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?” 1 Corinthians 10:12 NASB
By Bro. John L. Cash, “Country Preacher Dad”
Sometimes somebody will teach me something that is so obvious, and so logical, but that I would never have thought of in a million years.
Almost twenty-five years ago, when I first came to the country church, I was having lunch in the home of a family from my congregation.A television news bulletin interrupted the regular programming, and the announcer said that a prisoner had escaped from a nearby facility, was possibly in our area, and that we should consider him to be armed and dangerous.
I was very surprised what the man of the house did upon hearing of the jailbreak.He immediately walked outside and put the key into the ignition of his pickup truck.
I asked my host why he was doing that.Wasn’t he afraid that the convict would steal his truck? I will never forget his wise answer.He replied, “John, if an escapee comes by here, he will be looking for transportation, and he will be desperate. If he comes by the house and finds my truck with a key in it, he’ll probably take the truck and leave without causing us any harm. But if he comes and there is no key, there’s a good chance he will come in the house looking for a key and hurt us or kill us all.We’d a lot rather lose that old truck than to lose our lives.”
I don’t know what law enforcement officials would think of his plan, but it makes perfect sense to me.There is no earthly possession that is worth forfeiting your life or the lives of your family for.It’s no good to keep your truck, but to lose your life in the process.
In today’s Scripture lesson (at the top), Jesus impresses upon us the same spiritual truth. This world has so many beautiful and wonderful things. But if we gain “the whole world” but end up losing our own soul, we have not profited. We have lost everything that matters in the end.
Dear mamas, as we go through this new week, let’s strive to keep eternity’s values in view. The most important thing that we can give to our children is a saving faith in Jesus Christ, because he is the “key” to happiness in this life and to life eternal in the age that is to come.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad” (*Sing that title to the tune of “Secret Agent Man.”) He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and is beginning his 25th year of being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. He and his lovely wife, Susan, and his sons, Spencer (age 18) and Seth (age 15) live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church” (where the Preacher has an old work truck that even escapees don’t want to steal). You should write him at extramailbox@juno.com.
