The Worth of the Soul

 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" Matthew 16: 24-26

    One of my favorite Christmas carols is "O Holy Night." It was written by a French wine merchant, Placide Cappeau, who dabbled in poetry. As Christmas approached, he was asked to compose a  hymn and, although he wasn't a religious man, when he read the account of Christ's birth in Luke chapter two, he imagined himself within the nativity story. That is how the worshipful words came to be.

O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

    Contemplate that last line, "and the soul felt its worth." It's funny how one can hear the same songs every Christmas season and then, suddenly, a phrase incurs a deeper meaning.  We are left to ponder, "What is my soul worth?" 

    It's priceless! We know this because of the dear price Jesus paid at Calvary to ransom us from bondage. He wrote the check, so to speak, and signed it in the red of His precious blood.

    In the passage above, Jesus implores us to surrender our souls to Him or we will lose them. We don't realize the worth of our souls until we meet the One who restores that eternal part of us. (Psalm 23:3) The Bible says our soul thirsts for the living God (Psalm 42:2). It is only in Him that we find hope and rest (Psalm 62:5). Once we are sated by Him, the natural response is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul (Deuteronomy 6:5). 

    Years ago, I heard a story about Abraham Lincoln. When passing by a slave auction, he paid the price for a female slave only to set her free. But, she would not go her own way because she loved him so much for what he had done that she wanted to follow him.

    How much more should we fall in love with our Redeemer, Jesus the Christ, until we, like the song says, "Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine! Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever. His power and glory evermore proclaim." 

"My soul glorifies the Lord." Luke 1:46