Whom do we fear? Or better yet, whom should we fear? The bible states that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). And so we are to fear Him who is the keeper of our soul.
For starters, let’s consider what our soul represents. Or more specifically, what is the soul? The soul is different from the body. It’s the part of a person that thinks and wills.
Furthermore, the soul is the part of a person that is not physical and lasts for eternity. The soul is imperishable. The soul is immortal.
Thus man became a living soul when God breathed into him the breathe of life (Genesis 2:7). Although the body is made of dust, God imparts our soul (spirit) to us. This makes us a living being.
In essence this a supernatural phenomena called the “miracle of life.” As mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:39, “It is I who put to death and give life.”
Now God created us in His image, so we have the ability to think and reason, to choose, and to feel. Also, bear in mind, He has instilled an innate sense of right and wrong into every person. In other words, a moral compass has been built into our souls.
More importantly our souls enable us to to commune with God if we choose too. To know Jesus should be our aim as believers. “But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me” (Jeremiah 9:24a).
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Thus when one considers that every person you meet is an eternal soul. And every human being who has ever lived is a soul. Furthermore, all of those souls are still in existence somewhere. The question is where?
Upon death our physical bodies return to dust. If we are believers our souls return to God to dwell with Him eternally. Also, we will receive a resurrected body for our souls, or spirits to occupy.
Yet, for non-believers, tragically, their souls will return to God at the Great White Throne Judgment. Next their souls will then be separated from God for eternity as their names will not be found written in the book of life.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
It is apparent that only God has the authority to destroy both soul and body in hell.
As mentioned previously, the soul and the body will not be annihilated. But our all powerful God is able to do so.
Subsequently the devil has no power to destroy the soul, the immortal part. The body can be destroyed by him. And that is all that he can do to us.
In other words the body is insignificant in comparison to the soul of a person. Remember the soul is the imperishable, immortal part of who we are.
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28). He’s the keeper of our soul.
Our Shepherd (Jesus) will defend His sheep against all enemies and no sheep of His will ever spend eternity in hell. There is no power that can snatch his followers from His grasp. His hand is Almighty. He’s the keeper of our soul.
So when we consider these things, we realize that we are in safe keeping. Our protector is always awake, as stated in the Psalms, “He will not let you fall” (Psalm 121:3).
“He shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in” (Psalm 121:7).
This verse tells us that the times when our relationship with God is not what it should be, He will draw us back to Him. Also, He will preserve our soul because He is the keeper of our soul.
To elaborate, He delivers us from evil. Another point I would like to make is He is watching our backs.
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13).
Indeed our God is faithful. We can fail God, but he cannot fail us. And we must not forget that God is faithful to his word concerning the souls of believers and the souls of non-believers.
To conclude, let’s fear the One who is the keeper of our souls.
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