Protection For Your Soul

Protection For Your Soul

Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. –Matthew 10:28

Imagine the scene as Jesus prepared to send his disciples out in twos for ministry. Far from a pump-you-up pep talk to reassure them, he seemed to be preparing them for the worst. “When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say in your defense,” he instructed. “Everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me,” he predicted (Matthew 10:19, 22). And then he encouraged them not to fear those who wanted to kill them. “They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul.” Gee, I want to say in response, they can only kill my body? And this should be a relief to me?

Jesus seemed to be preparing them for the worst. And perhaps his words to his disciples have something important to say to you and me as his disciples today—especially as we seek to discover how to understand God’s promises of protection. Because we want to know: Can we expect God to protect us?

His words to the disciples and to us reveal that God is much more interested in the life of our souls than the life of our bodies. Your body is going to die. Your soul is going to live forever. God cares more about your spiritual health than your physical health. And his ability to protect your soul from eternal judgment and eternal death is more significant than protection of your body from disease or attack or death. It doesn’t always seem more significant to you and me, but it is. Trapped in these bodies and in this time, it is so hard for us to imagine our eternal future with him. And in our desperation amid difficulties, we try to apply his promises of protection for our souls to our bodies, and we’re left disappointed. We will continue to be disappointed until our value system lines up with God’s, until we value the eternal life of our souls more than the limited life of our bodies.

God has not promised wholesale deliverance in this life for those who place their faith in him. But what he has promised is protection of our souls for eternity—eternal safety and rest in the bosom of Christ.

My Soul Protector, I am beginning to understand that the protection you’ve promised for my soul is more significant than the preservation of my body. Help me to trust you with my body and my soul and to rest in your protection.

DIGGING DEEPER