Handle with Care

Bible Reading: Luke 12:16-21

CRASH! The sound of shattering glass echoed through the house. Bridger and his mom ran into the kitchen. “Oh, Faith! My new vase!” Mom exclaimed when they saw the little girl looking in dismay at pieces of a glass vase scattered all over the floor.

Faith began to cry. “I didn’t mean to drop it! It slid right out of my hands.”

“I see that,” Mom said. “Right now I want you to go wait in your room before you get cut on this glass. I’ll be there to talk to you in a minute, but first I need to clean up this mess.” So Faith went to her room while Mom picked up the biggest pieces of broken glass and Bridger got the broom and dustpan.

“Faith should have known better than to touch the vase,” Bridger said. “But since she picked it up, she should have hung on tight and not let it slip out of her hands. It’s pretty valuable, isn’t it? I mean…it was.”

“It wasn’t really that valuable,” said Mom. “But I did like it.” She looked thoughtful. “There’s something much more valuable we each have to be very careful not to let slip away. Any idea what that would be?”

“Hmm…I’m guessing it’s not anything we can buy with money,” said Bridger slowly, trying to think of what it could be. “Time with the people we love, maybe?”

“That’s a good answer,” said Mom, “but I was thinking of our souls. God created each one of us with a soul, and it’s not something we want to be careless with. Do you remember the story Jesus told of the rich man who was only interested in storing up plenty for himself and having a good time?”

Bridger nodded. “God called him a fool, didn’t He? And then that night, the man died.”

“Yes. That rich man provided for his life on earth but gave no thought to what would happen to his soul when he died. We don’t want to make the same mistake and make life all about our own comfort and happiness only to have it all slip away. Our time on this earth is temporary, but life with Jesus is eternal. Our souls can only be saved by trusting in Him.” (Barbara J. Westberg)

How About You?

Do you care about your soul—the part of you that goes on after your body dies? Having everything in the world is worth nothing if your soul is lost. It can only be saved by Jesus. When you trust in Him, He gives you eternal life—and one day He’ll reunite your soul with a new body that will never die. Your soul is valuable—don’t ignore it. Trust in Jesus today. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.

Today’s Key Verse: Mark 8:36 What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? (NLT)

Today’s Key Thought:

Your soul is valuable