For what its worth

Have you ever wondered what the world is really worth? Maybe you should think about it. Jesus shares some thoughts on the subject.

³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

Mark 8:36

So, if you could gain the whole world, what would you get?

First of all, if you’re looking for a dollar amount, then the Federal Reserve has that for you. They calculate that in America alone there is $1.5 Trillion floating around in coins and bills. Go global and the number increases to $5 Trillion.

But if you add to that things like “non-physical” dollars, such as savings and checking accounts, money-market accounts, and stocks and bonds, the number increase quite a bit. For the entire planet it reaches something like $80 Trillion.

But what if everyone in the whole world cashed in everything they owned – all their possessions, including houses, yachts, cars, helicopters, clothing, even that old toothbrush – and cashed out. How much would the whole world be worth? The estimate is about $241 Trillion.

Of course, I’m not sure who would be paying for it. If everyone cashed out at once, who has the money to but it all? Maybe aliens? But let’s keep going.

Let’s convert all that cash to hundreds and make a big stack. It would reach over 160,000 miles high, that’s over halfway to the moon! Now, knock the stack over and spread it all out in a single layer. There’s enough cash to cover the entire state of Vermont.

Why stop there! We all want to make more money, right? So let’s slap a “For Sale” sign on the earth and sale to the highest bidder. Factoring in all the natural resources of our planet, this big hunk of dirt is worth a whopping $5 Quadrillion!

$5,000,000,000,000,000.00

That’s really unimaginable. There’s really no way of understanding just how much the world is worth. Now consider this – Jesus said that if you had that much money, but lost your soul…you’d be bankrupt.

In other words, even though the entire world’s value is unimaginable, your soul is worth so much more than that! Inconceivable!

But it’s true! God’s value that he has placed on you is so much higher than you think. He decided it was worth giving everything he has for it – he gave his own son to save your soul. We use the word “redeem,” which is a great word in this example. Because there’s a monetary equivalent to this thing. God paid the price for your own soul, to redeem it.

But there are many in the world who would short change their own soul. They put a very low price on it. It’s not worth kicking an old habit or sticky addiction. It’s not worth fifteen minutes alone with Jesus each day. It’s not worth choosing humility over arrogance.

These are the kind of things we do to take care of our souls. We turn from temptation. We think of others before ourselves. We get alone with our God often.

What is your soul worth? How do you treat it?

We treat a brand new, high priced car much differently than an older, run-down car, right? Be honest. You would never eat in a new car. You wouldn’t even sneak a fry after hitting the drive through! But that old car you had back in college? The one with the seats that were worn out, the tires that were balding, and the sun visor that never really stayed put anymore? You’d eat chili in that thing. Why? Because you just don’t value it as much.

When I think of my soul as being as valuable as the price God puts on it, I will do things differently. We will live selfless lives. We will be willing to take up our cross. We will follow Jesus. That’s how Jesus taught us to take care of our souls.

If he saw value in them, then we should too. And our valuation should match his own.