| “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). |
| You and I are complicated persons, for the Bible tells us that we are not composed only of a body. Rather, we have three parts to our being — spirit, soul and body. We all know what our bodies are, for we live and move in this world using our bodies. However, the Word of God tells us that our body is really only a house for our spirit and soul. The Apostle Paul tells us that “if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). This verse is speaking of our bodies. If we die, and our bodies go back to dust, we know that God will raise those bodies when the Lord Jesus comes, and change them into new bodies. |
| Perhaps some of you have been to a funeral home and seen the body of someone you loved laid out there in a coffin. We can recognize the person, but there is no life in that body; it does not move or respond to us in any way. That is because the soul and spirit are gone, and we read in James 2:26, “The body without the spirit is dead.” The “house” (the body) is still there, but the soul and spirit that once lived inside it are gone. |
| But what is the difference between the soul and the spirit? The soul is that part of us that makes us unique as individuals. It is the part of us that determines our appetites for certain things, and our desires. Some of you may like nothing better than a game of soccer, while others would rather read a good book. Some young people love music; others may be far more interested in sports. Again, this is part of their soul, and makes them distinct from other people. |
| The spirit, however, is something that only man has; no animal has a spirit, for the spirit is the God-conscious part of us. It tells us in Genesis 1:26 that “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” and then He gave man a spirit that could recognize who God is. Because of the spirit in him, mankind knows there is a God, and can have a relationship with God. This is a wonderful thing, and yet a serious thing too. If we know that there is a God, it is important to pay attention to His Word, and to know the true God. Sad to say, many people in this world are worshiping false gods, or idols. Their spirit tells them that they should believe in a god, but Satan has deceived them into believing in false gods, instead of the true God. |
| For us as Christians, the Apostle Paul expressed a wish that all three parts of us would be preserved blameless until the coming of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Lord will help us to do this, if we ask Him. |
