http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%202:20-21&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2010:31&version=NASB
Thursday Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi met his fate. And a bloody one at that. He was pulled, wounded and bleeding, from a drain pipe he had crawled into to hide. Interestingly, the man who was responsible for the deaths of so many innocent people pleaded with the rebels not to kill him. Or his sons. Sounds a little cowardly to me. I guess, in the end, no one wants to die. Especially when you don’t know Jesus. Unfortunately for Gadhafi, the rebels did not treat him very kindly. In the end, he was killed and his dead body was displayed for the world to see. So ended 42 years of terror in Libya. And elsewhere around the world.
It wasn’t too long ago that Gadhafi felt pretty confident in himself. For 4 decades he had been virtually untouchable in his own country. Surrounded by loyalists. And a highly-paid, well-equipped security force. He also lived a life of extravagant luxury, with an estimated $200 billion in bank accounts and investments around the world. $200 billion while one-third of his people lived in poverty. Is that a crime or what? It took a long time. 42 years to be exact. But his day came. Now he has joined the long list of dictators who are dead. Who will one day be judged by God for their wicked deeds. Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Bentio Mussolini, Idi Amin. We can be sure that for each of these men, and others like them, the worst is yet to come. An eternity of suffering in Hell. Folks, that’s as bad as it gets.
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of Gadhafi’s in our world. Oh, they’re not dictators (although there are still quite a few of them left). They are people who have decided to live for the things of this world. Fame. Money. Status. Possessions. Power. And some of these people actually seem to succeed. To have chosen wisely. They make money. They have fun. They appear to enjoy life. But their decision is bad on 2 counts. First of all, nothing lasts forever. Sooner or later, the party’s over. Secondly, the consequences are enormous. Life apart from God and everything that is in any way good, fun, or worthwhile. Forever. Sounds like an incredibly bad decision to me.
Jesus said it best. In Matthew 16:26 He asked the penetrating question, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Great question. Just exactly what is our soul worth? The $200 billion that Gadhafi had stored around the world? I don’t think so. To borrow a phrase from Master Card, it is priceless. In the end, no amount of money, or popularity, or fun, is worth our soul. It is the only thing that we have that’s of any real worth. That will last into the realm known as eternity. This is why we need to guard it. At all costs.
It wasn’t too long ago that Gadhafi felt pretty confident in himself. For 4 decades he had been virtually untouchable in his own country. Surrounded by loyalists. And a highly-paid, well-equipped security force. He also lived a life of extravagant luxury, with an estimated $200 billion in bank accounts and investments around the world. $200 billion while one-third of his people lived in poverty. Is that a crime or what? It took a long time. 42 years to be exact. But his day came. Now he has joined the long list of dictators who are dead. Who will one day be judged by God for their wicked deeds. Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Bentio Mussolini, Idi Amin. We can be sure that for each of these men, and others like them, the worst is yet to come. An eternity of suffering in Hell. Folks, that’s as bad as it gets.
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of Gadhafi’s in our world. Oh, they’re not dictators (although there are still quite a few of them left). They are people who have decided to live for the things of this world. Fame. Money. Status. Possessions. Power. And some of these people actually seem to succeed. To have chosen wisely. They make money. They have fun. They appear to enjoy life. But their decision is bad on 2 counts. First of all, nothing lasts forever. Sooner or later, the party’s over. Secondly, the consequences are enormous. Life apart from God and everything that is in any way good, fun, or worthwhile. Forever. Sounds like an incredibly bad decision to me.
Jesus said it best. In Matthew 16:26 He asked the penetrating question, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Great question. Just exactly what is our soul worth? The $200 billion that Gadhafi had stored around the world? I don’t think so. To borrow a phrase from Master Card, it is priceless. In the end, no amount of money, or popularity, or fun, is worth our soul. It is the only thing that we have that’s of any real worth. That will last into the realm known as eternity. This is why we need to guard it. At all costs.
Lord, I thank you that You are sovereign in all the earth. You raise kings and You depose kings. All people, big and small, are in Your hands. I thank you that You care very deeply about my soul. And have provided a way for it to live eternally with You. For that I will be eternally grateful. Teach me to number my days. And to live wisely here on earth. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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