The Holy Scriptures (Mark 8:34 – 9:1) encourage us to question ourselves and to continuously check and re-check our values and prioritie
The word of God places the soul of each and every one of us as the value above all values. Consequently, our work on the salvation of our souls is the only reason of our life on earth. It is amazing how well the Serbian people understood this truth in the centuries past and put it into epic poetry: “It is better for you to lose your head than your soul,” are the words of Mother Jevrosima to her son Marko. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36
Holy Gospel seems to place before us an antinomy: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35
This is about two kinds of life. The earthly life which passes, and the heavenly life, which is eternal. Once we have differentiated between the two, it is easy to understand. He who allows himself to be carried away by the torrents of this life, who surrenders himself to the pleasures and cares of this life while neglecting his soul, he will lose eternal life. God breathed the spirit of life into us (Genesis 2:7) and only this divine breath is eternal, because it comes from God who is eternal. Everything else is returned to dust, from which God made us
Scientists have calculated that the chemicals that make up the human body, without the soul, are worth about eighteen dollars. This can help us realize that what makes each one of us valuable is our soul and hence it seems very strange that the soul is what we least care for. The soul is what makes us into personalities, God-like personalities at that. As long as we breathe, we are human
Therefore as we live our lives we must take care of what is most valuable in us. Working on our salvation must become our priority. We must never forget that sooner or later each one of us must stand before God and give an account to Him for our lives. “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9
First and foremost we must do our best to stay away from sin, for sin is the murder of the soul. He who sins against God wrongs his own soul (Proverbs 8:36) And prophet Ezekiel says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4
God made us according too His own image. Man, according to the nature of his provenance gravitates toward Him who created him. The individual who succumbs to sin and an uncontrolled satisfaction of physical passions, escapes, albeit unsuccessfully, from the profound and ancient call that we all carry within ourselves. Our God-like image demands that we live according to the law of God. A soul without God thirsts after God. Without God, the soul is dead. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God,” (Psalm 42:1) sings King David. “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalms 42:1-2
“God is not the God of the dead but of the living.” (Matthew 22:32). He wants us all to be saved and He has given us enough weapons to accomplish this goal. The best and most effective way to do this is to stay away from sin. “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.” (Proverbs 16:17
We need not fear those who kill the body as much as those that kill both the soul and the body in Hades (Matthew 10:28), meaning sin
In all of our iniquities and crises of the soul, we need to find consolation in God and turn to Him only when we are in need of help and support. In His hand is “the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10) :The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.” (Psalm 34:22) Everything else, as we very well know, is a fleeting illusion. As Christians, we are called to save our souls by patient longsuffering. (Luke 21:19
Now is the time to invest in the future that awaits us. We must walk through life with open eyes, and be very careful not to lose what is most valuable and eternal for the sake of something corrupt and temporary
We must use the experience of others and our own. All experience teaches us that we are in this life for only a short time and that it is the soul alone that can take us to heaven, to the embrace of our heavenly Father from whom we proceed.