flesh and spirit

Some words for contemplation by my friend Geoff Hill.

The Method

Now we know the many ways the human soul differs and battles the human flesh, for scripture makes clear the anatomical conclusions of the two. But, how often do we look at the synonymous relationships? One primary metaphorical example is the digestive system. When a person eats, physically, the act of mastication, then swallowing, followed by the body absorbing all the nutrients, dispersing them to the proper respective places in the body, digesting the material and then expelling the bad. Now, I beg you to bare with me; the soul does a very similar set of actions. It receives the "information", masticates it, swallows it (or contemplates what it has received), proceeds to disperse the "nutrients" to the various aspects of life, thus digesting it, and it properly rejects the bad, and hopefully, disabling it from our use in life.

When the body and soul, respectively, receives "fruitful" (no pun intended) food or information, the routine is a positive one. The human body receives, and cutting to the chase, disperses the nutrients to the appropriate parts of the body - the soul the same. When the soul receives, it will share the information, or apply it to the life of the human, hopefully also allowing outworking of that information (wisdom).

The Benefits

Nutrients from the food are given to the body - giving energy, a healthy lifestyle, proper blood flow, and more importantly, increasing the effectiveness and strength of the immune system. The soul disperses the nutrients also producing fruitful, healthy, productive, moral lifestyle. On the contrary, when the body receives bad, expired or poisonous food, the body will generally do one of two things. (I am no doctor of this process, so forgive me if I am way off) If the body has a healthy immune system, upon detection of poisonous intrusion, the body will reject the food (or poison) and vomit the sometimes partially digested material, and fight back, thus enabling the body to cleanse itself of such poison.

The Dangers

Now, if the body has a poor or weak immune system, this could mean a very dangerous thing. The poison can/will infiltrate the body, be sent to the organs, over-taking the "good" cells, thus making you sick. And, depending on the poison, possibly leading to death. Now, again, let's apply this pattern to the soul. If we are able to discern fruitful wisdom, from poisonous lies (having a good "immune system"), we are able to properly reject the poison: our soul is so able to detect fraudulent words that it will refuse it from digestion and vomit it out.

Now, here lies the danger. If our soul's "immune system" is weak, oh the tragedy! We will digest the poison, dispersing it into our blood stream, to the organs, thus making us sick. That plays out in our soul in many ways depending on the poison. It can lead to living a sinful life; un-clean, impure, being deceived with lies, and so on. Another danger in this is not only becoming sick, and that playing out in our lives, but also our soul's "immune system" becomes weaker and weaker. Our discernment from fruitful goods versus poisonous bads becomes out of order, losing strength. And we are much less likely in the future, the more and more poison we intake, to be able to reject it! Thus, eventually, as the book of James speaks of, when is conceived gives birth to sin, and when accomplished- is fatal!

The soul, again, is similar! It must steer clear of poison at all costs, ingest only fruitful wisdom, and most importantly, remain in the Word of God. Then, when that "bad apple" is spotted, the soul quickly and hastily rejects it, and you can see it from a mile-off.

Application

So what does this all mean? Well, for the body to buildup, strengthen it's immune system it must do a few things. It must steer clear of any poison at all costs, it must only ingest healthy food, and it must exercise. Then, in that unknowing occasion when a bad apple is eaten, the body detects it right away, rejecting the poison and vomiting it out. The soul, again, is similar! It must steer clear of poison at all costs, ingest only fruitful wisdom, and most importantly, remain in the Word of God. Then, when that "bad apple" is spotted, the soul quickly and hastily rejects it, and you can see it from a mile-off.

The Word of God is our sure way of not only building and strengthening our soul's "immune system", discerning fruitful wisdom vs. deadly poisons, but also ingesting healthy, pure, positive soul food to give our soul the strength, energy and wisdom it needs as a Christian, to then play out in our lives displaying of faith, sharing the Gospel, and enduring the race. So, in conclusion; keep your body healthy by eating right - but more importantly; keep your soul from poison by diving into the Word of God.