Sometimes we can read something that is so simple yet so profound. Something that greases the spokes and gets our thoughts moving with squeaks and groans. A lesson we needed to know, a lesson we already knew but didn’t practice, or a lesson we needed to relearn. Such is the case:
This life is not for the body, it is for the soul, and man too often chooses the way of life that best suits the body. Not the way that best suits the soul. And I permit only what best suits the soul. Accept this and a wonderful molding is the result, reject it and My Purpose is frustrated, your best prayer unanswered, progress (Spiritual progress) delayed, trouble and grief stored up. Two Listeners
When I read this, I was struck. Struck at how sometimes I completely miss the boat. As followers of Christ, we know that where our souls and the souls of others spend eternity is what this life is all about. We know that our physical bodies will eventually fade away – we live in earthenware, temporary pots. But what’s in those pots, what those pots contain, is not of this world. Those pots contain the soul. The soul gives life to the body – what’s in our soul dictates how we live. The body doesn’t give life to the soul – our bodies don’t dictate what’s in our souls.
All too often I(we?) get caught up in the living of my life in this body. Work, play, family, busyness, commitments and obligations. All body living. No doubt we have to live our lives on this earth in our physical bodies. But, where our bodies go, so goes our soul. Think about that, we carry our souls with us, we can’t get away from it. So, it just makes sense that what’s in our soul is important. Is the Spirit of the Lord living in our soul? Or, is the spirit of the world living in our soul?
As we go through each day, think about how different our lives would look if we practiced soul living instead of body living. If our soul and the souls of others were the top priorities in our lives, think what work the Lord could do in us and through us. If each step we took each day were taken with the soul in mind and not the body in mind, how would our lives look different? If each decision we made were made with eternity in mind, how would our lives look different?
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26