Tears For My People

Who are my people? In this day of tribal affiliation, “identity politics" is one term that comes to mind. The world urges us to identify with others by skin color, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, nationality. There are probably many other classifications I am not even aware of. They are all distinctions that have nothing to do with what is going on underneath the surface: the heart, the mind, the soul. What is the soul? I have heard many definitions, rather dry in my opinion. Here is the one I've heard a thousand times, and probably so have you. The soul is the mind, the will and the emotions. All right, there it is. Doesn't that just make your heart swell with feelings of tenderness? No? I didn't think so. The soul of a human being is the most valuable thing on earth, and it has nothing to do with skin color, race, ethnicity, sexual preference or nationality. It only has to do with you as a person. Your character, your intrinsic worth as an individual, the you of you. Your soul is worth more than all the money in the world, all the treasures of all the richest nations of the world added together cannot compare with the value of your soul. My mind always goes back to the day I saw Mark 8:36 inside a bus in Topeka: "What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Pretty sure that's the King James Version. Jesus was standing there holding out his hand. I was moved somewhere deep down in a way that is difficult to describe, but I knew it was something bigger than me, something powerful that was stirring inside. My mind did not understand the words but I was riveted to the sight of that sign. You don't see signs like that anymore in the public square, rarely in public transportation, rarely anywhere, really, unless you are shopping in a Christian store, perhaps. But it is a moment I have never forgotten, and I know it was God that drew my attention to it. The word for "soul" in Mark 8:36 is psuche (psoo-kay). Without going into depth trying to figure out at this time what other words for "soul" are listed in other verses in both Old and New Testaments, here are a few words that appear in 5590 in the "Greek Dictionary of the New Testament" in Strong's Concordance: "breath, i.e., (by impl.) spirit...--heart...life, mind, soul, + us, + you." Wow, those are some words to think about. I am especially interested in the "+ us, + you." So this soul that you have inside of you and the soul I have inside of me isn't just something I possess, something I carry around inside of me, no, it includes "us" and "you," which kind of highlights the connections that you and I were created to desire and establish throughout our lives. The inspiration for me to write this was just something that happened to me while I was working on my hair in the bathroom, kind of out of nowhere, but I don't really think it was out of nowhere, I think it was the Holy Spirit, I suddenly felt sad and let a few tears escape, only for a moment, for "my people." I was thinking about certain family members who still remain on earth, but then my mind opened up to the immensity of what that might actually mean ("my people"). Could it mean "My people," meaning "God's people?" God's people are all the people that Jesus went to the cross to die for to save them from the wrath of God. The people he would not trade for all the kingdoms of the world that Satan offered him as recorded in Matthew 4. "Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me'" (Matthew 4:8-9). "Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve'" (Matthew 4:10). This has been a constant reminder to me of how much the Lord, Jesus Christ, values you and me: more than all the kingdoms of the world. I take that to mean, everything the world values, all the money, all the jewelry, all the possessions, all the fame, recognition, worldly acclaim--everything the world esteems highly, compared with the value of worshiping God and serving Him, means exactly nothing. So I think God was speaking to me about His people, and He was trying to let me have a glimpse of how valuable His people, the people He is calling to Himself, are to Him, and that as His children, and to me, personally, He wants to impress upon me the worth, the value, of every soul of every person on this Earth that He created for His glory and who He wants to save and bring to Himself to be with Him forever. Pretty powerful stuff in a small moment in my apartment. I don't think we can be much good to God if we do not develop a strong love for people, especially God's people, those who already worship Him and those who have yet to respond to His call. He did say to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature...He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" Mark 16:15-16). So, that's what I have to share with you tonight. I have asked him to give me a greater burden for souls, and I think this was part of the answer to that prayer. We've just got to love people and show them mercy and grace, as well as be a witness for Christ and do whatever he says to do. We're not all preachers or people who have a great platform, but we all have people in our lives whom God has placed us with in this life to love them, to pray for them, to show them kindness when and where we can, and to share our faith with them. I know God is working in my heart, and I trust he is working in yours too. We need to let him. We're only here for a little while.