Mark 8:36-37 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?… To be good, nay, to pursue goodness as our ruling aim, is to make, or gain our souls. To be bad, or not to follow after that which is good, is to unmake or lose the soul. And hence, whatever other aims we may lawfully, or even laudably, place before us, this should stand first with us all. For what are we profited if we should achieve the highest distinction — what are we profited should we become great poets or artists, great scholars or statesmen, if we did not use our powers for good ends? Or, to use the sacred familiar words, "What is any man profited if he should gain the whole world only by the loss of his own soul?" Nay, more; what is the world profited if he should lose that? I often think of Sir Walter Scott kissing Lockhart, that bitter man of the world, and saying to him with his dying breath, "Be good, my dear, be good." For Scott had gone far both to gain the world, and to lose it; only to discover at last — as sooner or later you will discover — that nothing but goodness is of any real worth. To be good, to do our duty in a dutiful and loving spirit, is the crown and top of all performance. And nothing short of this, nothing apart from this, will be of much comfort to us through life or in death. For, whatever England may do, it is very certain that God "expects every man to do his duty" — his duty to himself, to God, and to his neighbour — not only on this exceptional day or that, but every day. (S. Cox, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?WEB: For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? |
    |