I read the following on a FB post by a friend:
“Ponder how valuable your soul must be for satan to tirelessly pursue it
and the King to lay down His life for it.”
I have no idea who said this and could be attributed to, but it’s the kind of question that pulls no punches. To be honest… I hadn’t really thought about protecting my soul. Heart – yes. Mind – yes. Perhaps I would have been more diligent in protecting it if I had.
Not wishing to assume, our soul is composed of OUR mind, OUR will, OUR
emotions You do see the operative word… OUR. If something is ours, then we are its user, its protector, to grow, etc. Ponder is also a well used word in my world. I think too often all of us act before we ponder. If our default was pondering then how much of what we do and say would be said/done? At -SoulSheparding, they state:
“Your soul is designed by God to integrate and enliven all aspects of your person – spiritual, psychological, and physical – to flow in love and wholeness. A healthy, flourishing soul will run almost on its own. This is why the Psalmist often talks to his soul in the second person, …”
Whether you ascribe to this definition or not… it should cause you to stop and ponder. Does it begin to help you gain another perspective? Perhaps, the question remains – how much value do you attribute to your soul? How important is it to You!? You can read the opening quote and see that this is what satan seeks to control and what Jesus was willing to do – Die for, for us.
One very quick way of determining your valuing of your soul is what you feed it. Do you feed it with the Word, with what other Christians have written? Or do you feed it by television and movies and other secular ‘thigs’ that really give ‘trash’ a bad name? Remember, though we are IN the world, we are not OF the world. As Christians we are called to be light and salt.
Our soul is no little thing. We should value it but not put it in a little carved wooden box and place it at the back of the tallest shelf. It’s not an ‘under lock and key and never seeing the light of day’. The King James Bible defines soul as:
“soul n.
The spiritual, rational and immortal substance in man, which distinguishes him from brutes; that part of man which enables him to think and reason, and which renders him a subject of moral government. The immortality of the soul is a fundamental article of the Christian system. Such is the nature of the human soul that it must have a God, an object of supreme affection.” [KJV dictionary]
Much more serious and significant a description, definition by the Christian world than the secular world. But we do need to know and understand the differences if we are to be of any value and you can:
“But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.” [1 Peter 3:15]
Often our best action is based in what Peter is saying: Who the Lord is in our lives, what He’s done and continues to do, is expressed in/from our soul through our words and actions.
