"What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36)

WOW! What a powerful statement from our Lord!

In today's Gospel reading (Mark 8:34-9:1), Jesus is asking His followers to deny themselves, take up their crosses, & follow Him.

How's that going for you? If you're anything like me (& the rest of the human race for that matter), you probably struggle w/ this on a daily basis. It's not all about the stuff you acquire, the status you reach in your career, or even the number of friends you have on your Facebook account.

What matters is what is in your heart & how focused you are on getting yourself & your loved ones to Heaven. We've been told all our lives that we can't take our possessions w/ us when we die. God will not judge us on the dollar amount in our back accounts at the time of our death or the award certificates hanging on our walls. He will look into our hearts & see how many times we reached out to help the poor & suffering, how much time we spent in prayer, what we did in the fight against abortion & other moral issues.

I leave you w/ this YouTube video...Toby Mac's Lose My Soul. It fits perfectly w/ today's Gospel.