ICS Daily Devotions
The Keeper of Your Soul
There once was a town high up on the Alps that straddled the banks of a beautiful stream. The stream was fed by springs that were old as the earth and deep as the sea. The water was clear like crystal. Children laughed and played beside it, swans and geese swam on it. You could see the rainbow trout that swam near the rocks and sand in the crystal-clear water. There was an old man who lived upstream who was hired to keep the springs clear of branches, fallen leaves and debris that might pollute the water. His work was unseen. One day, the town council decided to fire the old man due to the lack of funds and the old man left his post. Soon the unattended springs began to be clogged by twigs, fallen branches and leaves that muddied the liquid flow. Mud and silt compacted the creek bed, farm water wastes turned parts of the stream into stagnant bogs. Nobody in the village noticed until the stream turned brackish. The swans and geese flew away to live elsewhere and children stopped playing by the stream. There was no longer a crisp scent from the stream. People started to grow ill in the village. The life of the village depended on the stream, and the life of the stream depended on the keeper. The city council rehired the old man and yet again the stream came back to life when he tended to the springs. Children started to play beside it. The swans and geese returned to swim on it and the village came back to life. The life of the village depended on the health of the stream. The stream is your soul. And you are the keeper. (The Keeper of the Stream excerpt taken from Soul Keeping by John Ortberg)
The soul of man is the unrenewed part of us although we are a born-again Christian. The soul is made up of:
1) The Mind – intellect, brain, thinking and evaluation
2) The Emotion – feelings, desires and mood
3)The Will -decision and volition
Are you being a good keeper of your soul while you are climbing up the corporate ladder or growing your business?
1 Timothy 6:10 (NKJV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
The desire to be rich or richer, the love of money, foolish and harmful lust and the greediness of men have caused people to have many sorrows. Our soul is hurt because we have not kept it well and it could be blinded by the pursuit of riches.
Remember, just like the old man who was the keeper of the springs that brought fresh water to the stream, we are the keeper of our soul. How we think, how we manage our emotions and the decisions that we make based on their priority will affect our soul. Therefore, we need to have wisdom to ensure that we make the right decisions, renew our mind with the Word in order for us to prosper in our soul!
Our Christian values should be GOD first, FAMILY second and CAREER third in this order of priority and decision making. This is important for us to remember especially now as it will help us to make the right decision regarding what is really important to us.
Sermon Series: Balancing Godliness and Riches
