Guarding Our Souls, Part 1—Turn off Your Phone

As I was walking home from teaching at the high school yesterday, I noticed some students staring at their cell phones. I looked up at the bright blue sky punctuated with fleecy white clouds and decided to live “in the moment.” Suddenly a whole new world of colors, smells, and beauty opened up to me. I looked down the street and marveled at the shimmering Pacific Ocean and the dozens of shining metal cranes at the Port of Los Angeles. I was greeted by fragrant plumeria blossoms and cheery bougainvillea bushes. There were deliciously inviting smells from a local sandwich shop. And I enjoyed seeing the interaction between high school students walking home, or younger kids being picked up at the middle school by their parents. Two little girls were happily chatting on the playground.

There is so much that can fill our souls. But do people guard their souls today? I’ve been almost hit by more than one driver who was talking on a cell phone. As a public school teacher, I sometimes face the challenge of instructing while hidden phones compete against my efforts. Have you ever tried to have a meaningful conversation with someone who has a Web browser open before them? I’ve even had a holiday meal at a beautifully set table while a young man skillfully texted his friends with one hand under the table.

As long ago as April, 2015, some 88 percent of American teens (ages 13 to 17) owned or had access to a mobile phone, with 73 percent of them having smartphones, according to a Pew Research Center study released at that time. Also, 92 percent of teens reported going online daily, with more than half of those several times a day.

There is an onslaught, a deluge, of electronic, political, social, and worldly information that vies for our thoughts each day. With only twenty-four hours in a day, where are we to keep our thoughts? What is our “soul” responsibility?

Your Soul Responsibility

Deuteronomy 4:9:
Only take heed to [put a hedge around] thyself, and keep [put a hedge around] thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.

With so much information fighting for our attention, we need to hedge out unprofitable thoughts. We don’t allow them to crowd out our good thoughts to the end of forgetting the good. This verse says that once a person forgets God’s goodness, it can even depart from their hearts. God wants His people to remember, live, and teach the truth to their children and grandchildren.

Why not remember God’s goodness and what He has done for us? He is the source of all good things. He will bless our lives whenever we turn to Him. He formed our bodies, made our souls, and gives us His spirit when we believe. The Bible says that our “soul” is what gives us life and breath. It is also what gives us thought life, the ability to know and experience what our minds receive.

But Satan, our personal adversary, tries to steal our thoughts (John 10:10) with distractions in the world around us. They seem to be almost everywhere! That is why believers are to guard their thoughts and keep them focused on our heavenly Father.  He gave us His Word to faithfully do that.

James 1:21,22:
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted [we plant it in our minds] word, which is able to save [make whole and sound] your souls.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

By meekly receiving the Word of God and acting on it, people won’t deceive themselves. When they actually hold the truth long enough in their minds to do it, their souls (thoughts, understanding) are made whole. They have sound minds.

II Timothy 1:7:
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

God gives free will, the ability to make personal choices and decisions, to every person born into this world. Each can decide what to think. Those who obey the truth of God’s Word purify, clean up, their souls. God gives the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.  Each believer can do this because they have a spiritual connection with the heavenly Father. His truth makes sense to those who are born again of His spirit and walk in His love.

I Peter 1:22:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through [by means of] the Spirit unto unfeigned [without hypocrisy] love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

My Soul Waits Upon God

Jesus Christ told us that we can endure against life’s distractions and purchase our thoughts each and every day.

Luke 21:19:
In your patience [endurance] possess [acquire, purchase] ye your souls.

He is the greatest example of enduring against the world’s mental pressure to gain victory for mankind. He kept his thoughts on God and always did the will of the Father. He backed down the Devil by quoting the scriptures with “It is written.” He kept his thoughts on God and “purchased” for his soul the blessings of fellowship with the Father.

The Psalmists knew how important it is to guard our thoughts. When we think God’s Word, He restores our souls.

Psalms 23:3:
He restoreth [returns, turns back, brings again] my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Our thoughts are joyful when we remember what God has done for us. We rejoice in the wholeness that He brings.

Psalms 35:9:
And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.

Our souls can trust in our faithful heavenly Father. When we get rid of the distractions around us, we can take time for our souls and silently wait for the wholeness, the salvation, that only He can give.

Psalms 57:1:
…Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee.

Psalms 62:1:
…Truly my soul waiteth [is silent] upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Psalms 46:10:
Be still, and know that I am God.

Maintaining Our Souls

Many people make sure that their cars and homes are well maintained. We even have maintenance programs and exercise regimes to keep our physical bodies in good shape. How marvelous it is to have God’s Word so that we can maintain the thoughts of our souls!

Psalms 119:129:
Thy testimonies are wonderful [marvelous]: therefore doth my soul keep [guard, protect, maintain] them.

God’s Word shows how to really love our heavenly Father and serve Him. We can do it with all our souls, with all our thoughts and energy.

Deuteronomy 11:13,18:
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

I Chronicles 22:19:
Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.

God offers us a “good way” to walk in so that each person is blessed. His thoughts are higher than the worldly thoughts that seek our attention (Isaiah 55:8,9). Those who walk in His Word will find rest for their souls.

Jeremiah 6:16:
Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

The Healthy Soul

Many people are willing to invest the time, money, and effort into keeping their bodies strong and healthy. Perhaps it is because we can readily see from someone’s physical appearance how they are doing. But it is harder to see how healthy someone’s thoughts are. Do people spend as much effort to have healthy thoughts—to keep their souls strong and fit? It just takes a little time and loving effort to think the way that our Father wants us to think. Reading the Bible daily is still a healthy diet for the soul. Getting some personal time with the Father is a good way to spend our time. Fellowshipping with other believers can add richness and depth to our lives.

Electronic, political, social, and worldly information will continue to vie for our thoughts each day. So we decide to keep our thoughts on things above. That may include turning off our cell phones or limiting our internet viewing once in a while. We just need to take care of our souls. Then we have peace.

In Part 2 of “Guarding Our Souls” we will see how God designed our souls to be the connection between our physical and spiritual life.