What's The Going Price For Our Soul?

The story is told of a young man who was in need of some serious counseling because he was constantly getting into trouble. His probation officer told him to go and talk to a counselor. With a arrogant attitude and great reluctance, he went to see a counselor. When he arrived at the counselor's office, he stated in an arrogant tone of voice, "Okay, counsel me." Undaunted, the wise counselor looked up from his thoughts and said to the young man, "I have but two questions for you."

"All right," said the young man. "I'm ready. Ask me anything you like." The counselor responded saying, "The two questions are suppositions. Suppose you would never be found out and no one would be harmed in a physical way. If these circumstances were guaranteed, would you tell a lie for one thousand dollars?" The young man thought for a moment and then in a slow but confident voice answered, "Sure, for a thousand dollars and no one knows and no one gets hurt; yeah, I'd tell a lie." The counselor nodded his head, and then asked the second question. "Would you tell such a lie for a dime?"

The young man became furious, and loudly retorted, "Of course not! What kind of fool do you think I am?" Again undaunted, the mature counselor replied in a quiet voice, "I already know what you are, I'm just trying to establish your price." The price tags on the souls of men are often very different. For Judas, the price was thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). For Achan, the price was material possessions (Joshua 7:1). In John 12:43, we read that many of the religious leaders of the day believed in Jesus, but because of their fear of being ostracized, they sold their souls to the devil in exchange for "the praise of men."

Our Lord's view of the soul's worth and value, is exactly the same. It's worth more in price and value that the "whole world" (Matthew 16:24-26). However, we find that many men and women are still making the same mistake that Judas, Achan, and the religious leaders of the first century made, by selling their eternal souls to the devil in exchange for the temporary rewards of wealth, power and prestige.

Dear reader, the old devil knows that the above worldly influences will always be a problem in our lives, and though we may not totally surrender to him, if we waver in our commitment to the Lord in any way, our enemy will bargain and barter until he has found our price. Then we will become like the rich young ruler, who sadly left the presence of Jesus, because he could not give up the riches "he thought" were important (Matthew 19:16-22).

What's the going price for our soul?

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets