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Keeping Your Soul
August 3, 2019

Life is full of choices and an eloquent plea to be mindful of the choices we make is found in the book of Deuteronomy. We are reminded of the need to love the Lord our God and to obey him; to choose life. Choosing to not obey God is to choose death. God implores us to choose life.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

By choosing to keep the commandments we keep our souls. The Hebrew word for soul is transliterated as nephesh and means the physical body. By obeying God we do extend the possibility of our human life. If we are reckless in how we live, we disregard the value of our physical life and are much more likely to die.

Proverbs 19:16 - KJV
He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.

As Christians, we value eternal life over physical life. With that in mind, we still will value our physcial life and will not purposefully sin.

Romans 6:15-23
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As Paul shares, the death is what is earned through sin. Eternal life cannot be earned. By avoiding what leads to death we are in a better position to be given this precious gift.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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