Heart & Soul
As a little girl, I remember one of the first songs that I plunked out using just my index finger on our family piano was Heart & Soul. I was in the 3rd grade and had my dear friend, Joni, came over to my house and there she taught me how to play my part as she played her part of Heart & Soul. Wow- our heart and soul....what does that look like? I've been doing some thinking lately about our soul. I'm so glad God gives us the greatest commandment of loving Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. So I looked up soul- in the Greek- here's what I found...., just call me Sherlock :)...the breath of life, the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing; 2a) the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.) 2b) the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life 2c) the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body).
So I was thinking how in our culture there is a movement to be health conscious- we are aware of what we put in our bodies. If I ate Big Macs with Large Fries and a Large Coke for three meals a day, seven days a week there would be an obvious effect on my body- not only outwardly, but inwardly. But, the obvious would be the outward effect. So then I was thinking about the health of our soul. What are we pouring into our soul? The world wants us to pour in unhealthy things into our soul (feelings, desires, affections)- perhaps the faltered view of greed, maybe unhealthy feelings of comparison and jealousy, perhaps the things we view that pique our sensualities. We may not think that these have an effect, because we can't see them. But as I read 2 Peter, Peter talks about the power and knowledge God gives and by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Guess what corruption means: decay. When we choose worldly things- our soul decays. Whenever I hear or read the word decay vivid imagery pops into my mind of skulls, death. Yuck. I want life; but that is where the deceiver comes in- we think these things fill our soul, or we may even be totally ignorant going along our day- but sin brings decay to our soul. But thanks be to God who has given us His Son- who is the lover of our soul- who breathes His breath of life into us everlasting. The Holy Spirit comes in and invades and grows our soul into beauty. So God asks us today: today I set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; choose life so that you may life. Yes- my heart's cry: choose life.
So I was thinking how in our culture there is a movement to be health conscious- we are aware of what we put in our bodies. If I ate Big Macs with Large Fries and a Large Coke for three meals a day, seven days a week there would be an obvious effect on my body- not only outwardly, but inwardly. But, the obvious would be the outward effect. So then I was thinking about the health of our soul. What are we pouring into our soul? The world wants us to pour in unhealthy things into our soul (feelings, desires, affections)- perhaps the faltered view of greed, maybe unhealthy feelings of comparison and jealousy, perhaps the things we view that pique our sensualities. We may not think that these have an effect, because we can't see them. But as I read 2 Peter, Peter talks about the power and knowledge God gives and by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Guess what corruption means: decay. When we choose worldly things- our soul decays. Whenever I hear or read the word decay vivid imagery pops into my mind of skulls, death. Yuck. I want life; but that is where the deceiver comes in- we think these things fill our soul, or we may even be totally ignorant going along our day- but sin brings decay to our soul. But thanks be to God who has given us His Son- who is the lover of our soul- who breathes His breath of life into us everlasting. The Holy Spirit comes in and invades and grows our soul into beauty. So God asks us today: today I set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; choose life so that you may life. Yes- my heart's cry: choose life.
posted by Lynnster at 5:08 PM
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