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Daily Devotional

Our Souls Never Die

December 24, 2021 - 12:00 am

“Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, 
    but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.” — Proverbs 19:16 

We continue with devotional thoughts from the Book of Proverbs every Friday. One of the 11 books in the Torah known as the Ketuvim, Hebrew for “writings,” Proverbs is part of the “wisdom tradition,” which also includes Job and Ecclesiastes.  

Are you going to live forever? I know. This seems like an absurd question. You’re probably thinking, “Nobody lives forever. What’s Yael getting at?” But I actually mean it as a serious question. Let me explain. 

As people of faith, we all know that each of us is made up of a body and a soul. The soul lives forever. The body, like all natural physical things, will eventually die. So, when I ask you if you’re going to live forever, what I mean is, are you a soul or a body? Do you identify with your eternal soul? If so, then you will live forever. The body is natural. The soul is supernatural. It’s literally above nature. 

Think about it. Every living thing — whether a flower, an animal, or a human being — follows the same path from birth to death. Every living thing grows to its full size, greatest strength, and the peak of its beauty in the first third of its life. It then begins a gradual decline towards death for the remainder of its life.  

Our Souls Never Die 

But the soul, our human spirit, does not follow this path. Are people at their wisest at the same time that their bodies are strongest and most attractive? Certainly not. Long after our bodies have passed their physical prime, our souls continue to grow and develop. If the deterioration of the body did not get in the way, the soul would continue to grow endlessly. 

Souls don’t get weaker as they age. They get stronger. And the reason for this is simple: Unlike our bodies, our souls never die. 

This is what Proverbs means when it says that keeping God’s commandments keeps us alive. When we identify as souls, when we make God’s eternal law our top priority, we have chosen to live forever.  

Your turn: Knowing that our soul lives forever, what changes might you make in your daily habits and life? 

     

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