“I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul,” William Ernest Henley wrote in his day. Today many people have the same attitude, they say, “I can do whatever I want.” It is good if one has ‘self control’ along with a sense of direction and purpose in life. One can make a good life by making good choices. But if one is reckless and has an ‘I don’t care’ attitude it can be quite dangerous and devastating too.
What is the Soul?
What is the soul? The soul is defined as ‘the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever.’ (Merriam-Webster). Another definition says the soul is, “the spirit or immaterial part of man, the seat of human personality, intellect, will, and emotions, regarded as an entity that survives the body after death.”
The important thing to note in the definition is that the soul lives forever. It means that all the actions we commit during this lifetime will have consequences for our soul in the afterlife which is known as ‘forever.’ It is sad that most people spend their lives with attitude of “pleasure and mirth, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, [with the idea] Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Isaiah 22: 13 AMPC
There are many who are so focused on material comforts like the rich man in Luke 12:19 who said, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily. But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?” AMPC
Learning from loss
Has it happened to you that you learned the value of something you had only after you lost it? It happens to a lot of us. When we have it, we are careless and use it rashly. Sooner or later, something happens and we lose it. It is after experiencing loss that we suddenly realize how much that thing meant to us. Whether it is health, relationships at home or even friendships, we take them for granted and realize their importance after we lose them.
Some of these things can be regained. Health can be regained by proper treatment and rest. Relationships and friendships can be reconciled and restored. However, life when it is lost, will not come back. A soul that is lost and assigned to hell by God Who is the Judge, cannot return to earth or come out of hell forever.
Treating our soul as though it no value and not considering that our whole existence is centered on it, is one of the worst mistakes we can make. Losing one’s soul is akin to self-destruction. Luke 9:25 says, “For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and ruins or forfeits (loses) himself?”
There is hope for those who turn back to God
John Ramirez used to be a Satan worshipper and a warlock. He took orders from the Devil and put curses on people. In time, he learned that it was God and not Satan who had the greatest power. It took a special encounter with God and a visit to hell for this former Satanist to turn to the saving grace of the cross of Jesus Christ. He shares his testimony in the video below.
It is sad that many Christians today choose to follow the ways of world blindly. They say that heaven and hell are not real. They do not care about what the Bible says or even about their eternal future. There are a lot of people who don’t know the truth about the kind of spiritual warfare that many people face. Many people live in fear, depression, are suicidal, suffer physically and materially because of the curses placed on them through witchcraft.
Heaven is real, there are many people who have died and returned to life or had near death encounters and seen heaven and returned. There are others who were shown hell by the Lord so that they could warn people not to live lives that will take them to hell.
Celebrities making deals with the Devil
On the other hand, we hear about celebrities who made deals with Satan or sold their souls to Satan. This concept of making a deal with the devil is part of popular culture too. There is a long list of books, films, television and songs centered around this concept. Even today there are many young people who sell their souls for name, fame, riches and wealth. They do not realize that all these things are temporary and finite. These things do not matter after this lifetime. In making a deal with the devil, they are giving away their timeless soul which is far too priceless for something that is temporary.
Luke 12:19-20 tells us about a rich man who said to his soul, “Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily. But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?” AMPC
Those who spend their whole lives building up material success without regard for God’s laws eventually learn the hard way that all their success does not give them lasting peace, happiness or joy. They still find that there is a hole in their being which can never be satisfied by any amount of success, popularity and riches. Many celebrities have dealt with this hole in their being by turning to drugs, alcohol and addictions. A lot of them die young, meet with accidents or take their lives leaving their fans in grief and sorrow. The sad truth is that many young people idolize such celebrities and follow their footsteps mindlessly without knowing where they are headed to.
Turn to God before it is too late
Ecclesiastes 12:1 advises us, “Remember [earnestly] also your Creator [that you are not your own, but His property now] in the days of your youth, before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], I have no enjoyment in them.” “[Remember your Creator earnestly now] before the silver cord [of life] is snapped apart, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [and the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function]; Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it. Vapor of vapors and futility of futilities, says the Preacher. All is futility (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and transitoriness)!” (Ecclesiastes 12: 6-8) AMPC
All souls have been created by the Lord God, the Creator. Ultimately, all have to stand before Him to give an account of their lives. Romans 14:10-12 says, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God [acknowledge Him to His honor and to His praise]. And so each of us shall give an account of himself [give an answer in reference to judgment] to God.”
Who are you following?
Recently, there was a terrible tragedy in a Travis Scott music show where ten people were killed and hundreds were injured. Isaiah Saldivar interviewed John Ramirez about this tragedy, who shared some insights about the spiritual dimension behind this tragedy. Click here to watch this video.
It is very important that we learn the truth behind these spiritual matters and choose extremely carefully who we follow in life. Whether it is an ideology, a celebrity or a hobby that becomes an addiction and takes us down the road to self destruction, we need to be mindful about these choices. When we stand before God to give an account for our lives, we cannot say that we did this or that because of a celebrity or someone else. It will be our personal choice we will have to answer for. When we imitate people who hate God, it ultimately leads us to hate God too.
Take stock of your life
We need to take stock of where we stand before God. Are the influencers who are speaking into our lives, honoring God and living wholesome lives? Where are they headed in eternity – to heaven or hell? Have they chosen to despise God and His commandments? Have they blasphemed against Jesus Christ? Do they promote the kind of behaviour that God’s word warns us against in His word?
2 Timothy 3: 1-4 says, “But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear]. For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.”
Do you need a turn around?
If you realize today that you have been following a path in life that leads to eternal destruction, do not fear. You can turn around today. God sent His own Son to die for you so that you will not have to spend eternity (forever) in the fires of hell.
If you were told today that you have only a couple of weeks left to live, what would you do with your life? If you died today, what would your life say about you? Your soul has eternal value. Your soul will live beyond this lifetime. This lifetime is just a stopover, a stop for a brief period of time. We are on the way to our eternal destination. How we live our lives will determine whether our final destination will be heaven or hell. We don’t get to choose where we will go, we don’t get to reason or argue about our worthiness to be in heaven due to what we think is righteous. God is the Judge and He judges by His standards. We have to live by His standards of right and wrong.
A Saviour who died for us
If we have done wrong, God loved us so much that He made a way for us to make amends. God sent His Son Jesus Christ from heaven, He became man so He could become the sacrifice that would save you and me from going to hell. “For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.” John 3:17
To escape eternal damnation, we have to repent, seek forgiveness from God and accept His sacrifice on the cross so that our sins can be blotted out by His blood. After we do so we will need to change our lifestyle and behaviour and make a choice to obey God’s instructions in His word.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Henrietta Decruz
Henrietta is a writer, singer-songwriter, blogger and social worker based in Kerala, India. Having encountered God closely through life's many ups and downs, she has a passion to use her God-given talents for His glory and to see lives transformed across the nations.
