The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have a Bible Edge
II Corinthians 5:1
For we know 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.
Word pictures can be lengthy or short. I believe this is the shortest word picture in the Bible. It is one word, one word that speaks volumes. That word is “house.” The Apostle Paul uses the word house to describe our earthly bodies. He further describes this house as being a tabernacle, a temporary dwelling place similar to a tent. Our bodies are simply a house, a tabernacle, a place for our soul to dwell while on this earth.
Paul was not the only Apostle who considered our bodies a temporary house, Peter did also. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. (II Peter 1:13-14) In the words of two or three witnesses let every word be established. Our earthly bodies are simply temporary housing for our souls; a house, a tabernacle.
The word superficial is apropos for this discussion. Our concern is mostly superficial in that our bodies seem to be so much more important than the soul which they house. For example, have you noticed the amount of weight loss programs and equipment that are being advertised? The marketing is so intense throughout the year because marketers know that many people make regular resolutions to lose unwanted weight. Millions of dollars will be spent on these weight loss products. Weight loss is good and in some cases extremely important to continue good health, yet to only deal with the outward appearance of one’s body is superficial.
Take a look deeper. Go beyond the surface. Inside that body is a soul that also needs attention. There are habits that hurt the soul that need to be discontinued, there is food that will feed the soul that needs to be consumed. There are injuries of the soul that need to be healed. There are yearnings of the soul that need to be satisfied. There is so much the soul of a person needs, yet those needs are largely unmet because our attention is diverted to our bodies to such a greater degree than our souls.
How much money does a person spend on their body as compared to how much they spend on their soul? How much time? How much effort? How much exercise? How much thought? Your body is a temporary home for your soul. Take care of it, the best care you can, but do not care only for the body to the neglect of the soul. For the soul will live forever, the body will one day cease existence in its current form. Starting today, endeavor to get your soul in shape just as you hope to get your body into shape.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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