-

 

Body and Soul (June 20, 2024)

“Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

Always in motion and caught up in a frenzy of activity, healthy children seem to have inexhaustible energy. As they move into their teenage years and early adulthood, young folks tend to develop the misconception that they are invincible, immune to the bodily injuries and infirmities that they normally associate only with the elderly. I can relate to that attitude of agelessness because that’s the way I felt in my youthful prime. Having experienced (and thankfully overcome) serious health issues and the normal aches and pains that go with aging and having been saddened by the passing of dear friends of my generation, as I’ve moved toward my “golden years,” I’ve been confronted with the stark reality of mankind’s mortality. Despite our best efforts to care for them through proper diet, regular exercise, and prudent safety precautions, these vulnerable physical bodies are temporal and are going to wear out and die.

The soul or spirit, however, never sleeps for it is eternal! Every person who has ever lived is bound, depending upon whether or not they have a personal relationship in Jesus Christ, for one of two ultimate destinations where the soul never dies, heaven or hell! We are all going to spend eternity either in the presence of the LORD in a heavenly paradise or apart from God in a fiery place of punishment. God does not send unrepentant sinners to hell; they choose to go there by rejecting His provision for their salvation through Christ alone! We are wise to prepare ourselves, our loved ones, and as many other people as possible by confessing our sins, accepting God’s offer of grace, and receiving by faith Jesus as our Savior. Our lively hope and blessed assurance as Christians is that our everlasting souls will one day be gloriously reunited with new resurrected, immortal bodies like that of Christ and we will joyfully live with Him forever!




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  A Rightly Motivated Heart ( October 25, 2023) “ Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the  Lord  weighs the hearts. ” (Proverbs 21:2) When a serious crime is committed and a suspect is arrested, investigators search to identify a motive in the case. All human behavior is driven by motives that underlie our actions. The real reasons that we do what we do can be obvious or obscure. The Bible says that the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So those of us seeking spiritual maturity need to frequently examine our hearts to make sure that our motivations are pure and pleasing to an all-knowing God who weighs our intentions. We must seek to please God, rather than man! “I, the  Lord , search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:10) Many people are motivated by selfishness and pride that prompt them to pursue fleeting worldly gain, self-gratification,
Read more
-
Image
  Simply Believe! ( November 2, 2023) “ Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Unfortunately, our Christian faith can fluctuate with the changing circumstances of our lives? We are flawed like all human beings, and our trust in God often ebbs or flows depending upon whether or not we’re experiencing happy times or life’s trials. Satan constantly attempts to deceive us, draw us astray in our walk by faith with God, and bring about our ultimate downfall and defeat. However, we must remember that He who is in us—Jesus Christ living in our hearts through the Holy Spirit— “is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Simply believe! When doubt and fear cloud our well-placed trust in Christ, we can allay our apprehension and anxiety by focusing on our unchanging and ever-faithful L ORD rather than dwelling on our shifting circumstances. We must recall God’s past faithfulness to deliver us from our woes according to His will and perfect timing. As difficult as they
Read more
-
Image
  An Eternally Secure Identity in Christ ( October 24, 2023)   “ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) When voters go to the polls in the general election in two weeks, we will have to present to the poll worker our driver’s license or other acceptable identification in order to cast a ballot. In today’s increasingly impersonal, technology-based society, we are known and identified in the realms of government, business, and the world at large by our Social Security and account numbers, ID cards, and other similar documentation. As we all know, we have to guard this personal information very carefully in light of the fact that identity theft is among the fastest-growing crimes in the world. While our earthly identities—the digital or physical sources of personal information that distinguish us from everyone else—may be at risk of theft, believers are securely identified as holy and set apart from the world through our rel
Read more