The late Pastor John MacArthur once said: “To gain every possession possible in this world and yet be without Christ is to be bankrupt forever.”1 His comments echo Scripture, for we read in (Mark 8:36): “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
Imagine owning everything and then suddenly becoming bankrupt forever! For living without Christ not only means that you can’t take whatever possessions you may have accumulated in this life with you, when death knocks at your door, but you forfeit your very own soul as it gets banished for all eternity away from the presence of the Lord in a literal hell!
Sadly, many people with great riches, instead of relying on Christ for their peace, joy, and meaning in life, think that these riches will be able to provide what only Jesus can.
As I was doing some research on contentment I came across a very wonderful quote by Brother Lawrence that really blessed me. He said: “The most important discovery of my whole life is that one can take a little rough cabin and transform it into a palace just by flooding it with God.”2 For you see owning possessions is great but living without Christ makes you spiritually bankrupt now and sadly, for all of eternity!
And owning great wealth now, that you can’t take with you when you die, can’t compare with the great rewards and blessings that await the Christian on the other side of eternity, who may not have much material wealth now, but by serving the Lord is accumulating great wealth and rewards in heaven.
Even the persecuted Christian, who has sacrificed much of the creature comforts of life now, can look forward to great blessings when he or she passes on to their eternal state, for we read: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).
My friends, possessing Christ now brings the opportunity to experience great peace, joy, and meaning in this present life and rewards and blessings in the life to come that are simply out of this world. Whereas possessing great wealth now, without Christ, will only bring fleeting and temporary comfort and an eternity of misery and banishment from the presence of the Lord forever.
I am so grateful that Christ opened my blind eyes to the dangers of letting material possessions, like the rich young ruler from (Matthew 19), take centerstage in his life, causing him to choose his possessions over Jesus. Instead, I am living the best life possible, with peace, joy, and meaning now, and, oh yes, eternal life to come because I chose Christ!
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