Love the Lord with All Your Soul
“[4] Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [5] You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
When you hear the word “soul”, try not to think about horror movie references or the sentiment of non-material beings existing between worlds.
The Hebrew understanding of “soul” is not the same as our modern notion of the “soul” - as immaterial entities wandering the underworld or the spiritual realm for the unrest.
“Soul” is the essence of one’s living breath. Think of it as the value, meaning, purpose, and worth of each person’s life while they still have breath, while they are alive.
A proper understanding of this word confronts us with how we live each living and breathing moment. God breathed in us the breath of life that we may be living creatures. With each breath, we are living expressions of the image of God. Each breath is rightly offered in gratitude and worship joining the choir of creation for His glory and purposes.
But let's be honest, pouring ourselves out in such an unreserved manner - complete devotion and focus - is terrifying.
We are indoctrinated to be suspicious of any life not lived for ourselves.
We are conditioned to believing that we must hold on to our lives in order to experience the beauties of it.
Somehow, if we would only build up our own little kingdoms we would then be able to get the most out of life.
Take a quick moment and soak in the Words of Christ Jesus in Mark 8:34-37, "[34] And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. [35] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's will save it. [36] For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? [37] For what can a man give in return for his soul?"
Action: Deny Self. Take Up Your Cross. Follow Christ.
The admonishment is to follow Christ closely as your Lord and Savior. The old Hebrew idiom shines light onto what is expected of the disciple, "To be covered in the dust of your Rabbi."
Be a disciple of Christ Jesus. Let this be the pursuit of your life. Walk so closely to your Savior that His dust covers your feet.
The very definition of eternal life is to "know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).
To "know" (ginōskō) in this passage carries the understanding of "knowing by way of personal experience". The essence of eternal and abundant living is close intimacy with the Father, in Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Don't make life about yourself.
Don't worry about building up your idolatrous domains in this life.
Don’t preserve your own kingdoms.
Follow closely to Christ and be concerned about His Kingdom.
What's at stake?
Reward: Life (Soul) Awaits.
You will notice the use of both "life" and "soul" in this passage. That is an unfortunate translation of the same Greek word (psychē). The word "psychē" refers to one's "inner self, animate life, personhood as a living being". It's commonly understood as the significance, worth, and value of one's life while one is still living. In other words, the livelihood of life itself.
So what's at stake?
Your sense of living value and worth.
Your sense of significant living and meaningful existence.
Save your life, your kingdom, your self-centered aims, and you will lose the very thing you're looking for: Life.
Give it up for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, and you will find the abundance of what you're looking for: Life.
Warning: The Buyer's Remorse.
The verse ends with what I call "the buyer's remorse".
The tradeoff has been made.
You have now bought into the sinful self-centered aim of life. You have succumbed to the idea that you must protect your personal kingdom at all costs. You have embraced the “it’s all about me” philosophy of the world.
You now sit back and wish that you could give it all back in hopes to take hold of the eternal life that He is offering … but you can’t. It’s like taking home an item from the store after an impulsive purchase. The item breaks immediately - it fails to deliver. So you want to take it back. Unfortunately, you no longer have the receipt, and the store won’t allow you to return the item.
Buyer’s remorse.
Love the Lord with all your soul. Life is waiting.
Thank you for taking the time to reflect with me, and I pray that this post strengthens your heart in the Lord. Let’s encourage one another; share in the comments below how the Lord is revealing Himself to you lately, or let me know if you have any questions because I would love to continue dialoguing about all things pertaining to life and godliness. Spread the Word.
Linus Nguyen is the founder of Of The Way Ministries and serves as lead pastor of Emmanuel Bible Fellowship (Houston, Texas). He has taught in, developed curriculum for, and written on the subjects of Biblical Studies, Theology, Discipleship, Spiritual Formation, Philosophy of Religion, Missions, Humanities, Rhetoric, and Communications at Secondary, Undergraduate, and Postgraduate levels. // Follow him on Podcast, YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook.