Gains and Losses

In the world of business, decisions are made by looking closely at the gains and losses of investments. Analyses, budgets, and many other reports by specialists are constantly being run and rerun before any action is taken. Once in a great while, someone goes by their gut instinct—some call it a hunch—and ignores all of the numbers in the reports and goes for it. Sometimes it works out; sometimes it doesn’t. There are cases where companies have gone bankrupt only because of making that one decision, although sometimes it has nothing at all to do with any decisions. After 9/11, numerous businesses folded, which shows how it’s not always the business owner’s fault if it goes under.

This is not just in the world of business. We find ourselves always checking the numbers to make sure the bills can be paid. The wonderful budget that lies in front of you always looks great ~ that is until life happens. We are not always prepared for emergencies and find ourselves re-working the numbers, otherwise known as “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.” When it comes to having to purchase a new car, another home or any big investment, like major business owners, we consult the numbers over and over to make sure it’s doable. Going into such an investment with numbers on the paper that support the decision doesn’t guarantee it will work out because, once again, we have no control of the future.

The one thing that doesn’t fit our logical sense of profits, investments, gains and losses is a decision to do something when you know ahead of time you’re going to lose. To complicate it more, consider doing something that causes you to lose and someone else to gain. How many of us would be willing to give someone else everything we have and walk away with nothing? None of us would, not one. We would be willing to share as long as we would still have something but to walk away with nothing and give it all to someone else? Not! We are greedy by nature.

One person did the unthinkable ~ Jesus. He knew from the beginning of time that He would have to give His life for us to have salvation. Not just that, He also knew HOW He would die and how He would be treated. To top it all off, He knew that even after He died on the cross, He would still be rejected by most men. That decision doesn’t make sense when we think of gains and losses. Jesus was the Son of God and didn’t have anything personal to gain by His decision.

He died on the cross out of love so we could gain ~ His loss became our gain.

I will close with a short thought. The next time you don’t feel loved, you feel like you’ve done so much for everyone else and are forgotten by others, remember ~ Jesus thought of you when He made His decision.

This is DeVaughn ~ bringing it home.