Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. (Psalm 62:1, NIV)
From the surprising collection at California’s Cinnabar Hills to the exclusive Bobby Jones memorabilia at East Lake to the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida and the British Golf Museum at St. Andrews, my travels have given me the opportunity to see some of golf’s great trophies and fascinating historical artifacts.
At places like these, we are reminded of the some of the foundational principles of the game: simple recreation, competitive integrity, time in the outdoors. They are brought to light in these storehouses for us to contemplate and appreciate.
Since a recent conversation with a Links Fellowship, I have been thinking about where we archive the precious riches of our faith, which has led me to the role of the soul in our lives.
The richest of all things would be those that secure us to him no matter what comes our way.Jesus affirmed the Great Commandment: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Some Gospel accounts include loving God with our mind. That’s a full-bodied commitment! But where matters get interesting is the division between heart and soul—just where does that happen?
Among theologians and pastors, you’ll find a number of well-reasoned ideas about the heart versus the soul. But since these don’t all agree, it’s hard to say with certainty what’s what. The fact that the two are frequently coupled in Scripture adds to the difficulty. So I’ve set that aside and considered only the soul for now, as God’s been allowing me to see it in this window of time.
Here is what I have come to: The soul is the place of firm deposit. It is the spiritual storehouse where God has laid away all that sustains us in him. And because these are his deposits, they are absolutely secure. The soul is God’s vault within us.
If this is so, what has he placed there? The richest of all things would be those that secure us to him no matter what comes our way: The hope of salvation. The assurance of God’s promises. The peace that passes understanding. Contentment in the perfect provision of the Lord.
In this context, it is almost impossible not to think of Horatio Spafford, the lawyer and church elder who wrote the enduring hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.” You are likely aware that Spafford authored the hymn after losing his four daughters to the sea. This man’s heart was broken, but his soul tightly held all he knew to be true about God. Spafford, like you and me, was loved by God at all times. When such wonder is the content of our soul, we are in the very best of places.
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Jeff Hopper
May 12, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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