February 4, 2026.
Title: The only question that will still be relevant in a hundred years
Scripture
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"Mark 8:36 (NKJV)
Devotional Message
I got stuck in rush-hour traffic yesterday, late for a meeting that may have shifted my wage bracket for the next decade. The man in the adjacent lane was shouting into his Bluetooth, veins bursting, because a deal had fallen through. And right there, wedged between two semis, Jesus' question struck me as it had been said aloud in the vehicle."What are you willing to trade your soul for, son?"
not "your money."
not "your reputation."
Your soul.
We don't often see ourselves bargaining away something so spiritual. It seems dramatic, almost mediaeval. However, we do little deals on a daily basis. We give up peace for a more prominent title. We sacrifice integrity for a speedier victory. We exchange prayer time for one more email, scroll, or "yes" that should have been a "no." The exchanges are so modest that they don't even seem like trades—until one day we wake up and realise we own everything we pursued and don't recognise the person who lives within us.
Jesus is not being lyrical here. He's being ruthlessly pragmatic. He's asking the single maths question that will still be relevant after the mortgage is paid off, the children are grown, the body fails, and the last breath is out. If you achieve all this world considers success yet arrive in eternity empty-handed, you've made the worst bargain in history.
I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Slow down the automobile. Slow your heartbeat. "Look at me.
So I did something crazy in Northern Virginia traffic: I switched off the podcast, rolled the window down, let the cold air smack me awake, and yelled out loud, "Jesus, I don't want to gain the whole world. I only want you. Buy back every bit of myself that I've bargained away."
And grace—sweet, unearned grace—filled the front seat of a ten-year-old Honda like a cathedral.
Friend, whatever you're pursuing today, no matter how loud it is yelling that it's vital, listen to the softer voice of the One who loves you enough to ask the terrible question.
Is it worth your soul?
Nothing is.
Nothing but Him.