Satan once offered Jesus all the souls of the world. The price? His own soul.

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Matthew 4:8-9

The Devil told Jesus that he would give the Lord what He wants. He came to save souls, after all. Now here’s the Devil offering exactly what the Lord wanted, and the only cost would be His own soul. All Jesus had to do was worship the Devil and he would release the souls (of all the kingdoms of the world) enslaved by sin over to God. One soul in exchange for trillions. What a deal!

The temptation had to have been considerable. And yet, the Lord remained true to what was right.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Matthew 4:10

There is always an easy way out of any problem. There is always a shortcut you can take. There is always a corner to cut, or a principle to compromise. As long as the Devil is whispering in our ears there will always be the opportunity to cheat and skate by.

In the end, however, the cost is our soul. When Satan offers us everything we could ever want in exchange for our soul, you can be sure that’s a bad deal, because there’s nothing more valuable—not even the world–than our souls (Matthew 16:26).

Instead of selling out for immediate gain, consider the big picture. Think long term. Trust in the God who is in control.

Jesus could have said “I will sacrifice my soul to save the souls of humanity” and He could have been conned by the great con artist Satan into thinking that would be a noble sacrifice. Instead He trusted God, suffered horribly on the cross, and won the souls of men, rising from the grave never to die again. Because Jesus trusted in God and in God’s big picture, He defeated the Devil and saved both his soul and the souls of humanity.

Lesson learned: Dont sell out what is right for what is “safe” or “convenient” or “popular.” Be true to God and your relationship to Him, and everything will work out. Will you, by staying true to God, suffer for it? Yes, very likely. Jesus still had to endure the cross, after all, but in the end you will be rewarded beyond anything the Devil can promise.

Don’t sell out.