It’s always a surprise where I will receive inspiration for the next week’s Tea Time devotional. This week it was from a song writer that my son and I enjoy. A line from one of his new songs is You have a soul, use it! I had just returned from leading a retreat talking about the soul before I listened. It resonated with me. I realized that too many of us don’t surrender our souls to the wonder of the spirit. We have a soul, but we don’t pay much attention to it. Our souls take over our lives and lead us in many frantic directions, including addictions and bad choices. It is doing its thing while we are unaware. For me, using your soul means letting the truth of God’s love lead your soul to His peace that passes understanding. There is nothing more godlike than a soul that is full of God’s love and truth.

This line from the lyric helped me see what is happening in our souls. I thought about the fact that If we don’t use our souls, our souls will use us!” The songwriter had a great point. We may not share the same theology, but we do share the same reality. We both have souls. We are both in the soul business—his with music that moves a soul and mine with ministry that aids souls on their way to loving God. I agree with his sentiment. See your soul. Use your soul. Open your soul to the overwhelming love of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 expresses Paul’s wishes for our souls.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What was Paul wishing for others? What did he want to happen? How does that happen?

As I read this verse, I hear Paul wishing what I wish. I wish for our souls to be held in the peace that passes understanding. I wish that our souls would embrace their blamelessness through Christ and would experience how a soul feels when it is in complete unity with Christ. It happens in two ways. First, you must recognize you have a soul; then you must surrender your soul through and through to God’s love and truth.

Everything about this world will numb your soul. All the crazy pressures we face cause us to focus on everything but our souls. We need to be reminded that we have a soul and to use it. Use your soul to focus your mind, will and emotions on the truth of God’s word. His love will sanctify you through and through.
Deep down souls are craving for the authentic truth of Jesus Christ. Souls constantly want to be better, to do better, and to love better. Souls are yearning, seeking. If you don’t show your soul the truth, it will end up picking up all the fruitless lies that abound in this world.

You have a soul; use it. Recognize the part of you that is craving for a deep, meaningful, life–transforming conversation with God! Bring your soul—mind, will and emotions before Him. Experience what it’s like to be sanctified through and through. Your soul will love it.