The One Who Guards His Soul

 

 

 

 

"The way of the rebellious is full of thorns and traps, but the one who guards his soul stays far from them" (Proverbs 22:5).

 

 

I found an article on Yahoo News titled, “Who found the ‘garbage dumplings’? ... Thanks to a police officer’s holiday fishing,” which caught my attention. The article tells the story of a police sergeant who went fishing on his day off in Bongam, Paju, and heard complaints from fishermen and locals that “the water in the fishing area has become polluted due to the factory” and “the smell is unbearable.” He then began investigating and raided the Uteum Food factory, where he discovered that dumpling fillings were being made in a filthy environment connected to a polluted well. After reading this article, I thought that the sergeant’s investigative instincts helped prevent the sale of these “garbage dumplings.” It became a good opportunity to protect our food and health.

So, the question is, are we also conducting an “investigation” into the contamination of our own souls or hearts? Just as the police officer found the pollution in the dumplings, we should ask ourselves if we are allowing “garbage” to contaminate our souls. In the same way that some Christians try to grow spiritually but unknowingly let their souls decay, are we aware that our souls are decaying? We need to ask ourselves how committed we are to the effort of guarding our souls.

In today’s scripture, Proverbs 22:5, it says that the one who guards his soul stays away from “thorns and traps.” “Thorns and traps” refer to the difficulties and obstacles that come from the wicked actions of a rebellious person—someone with a crooked heart. As Christians, like the Israelites in the Old Testament, we often disobey God’s commandments and end up placing traps in our lives and thorns in our sides. This is the fruit of disobedience, the result of sin. However, the one who guards his soul is not someone with a crooked heart, but someone with an upright heart, as Proverbs 16:17 says: "The one who has an upright heart turns away from evil." Therefore, the one who guards his soul has an upright heart, and an upright heart turns away from evil, thus staying away from “thorns and traps.”

Now, how do we, as those with an upright heart who guard our souls, protect our souls? Dr. Park Yoon-seon suggests seven ways in his commentary on Proverbs:

  1. We must welcome God, who guards our souls, into our hearts.
    (Proverbs 24:12) "Will not He who guards your soul know? He will repay each man according to his deeds."

  2. We must possess wisdom that fears God (faith).
    (Proverbs 8:36) "Whoever loses me (wisdom) harms his own soul."

  3. We must keep God’s commandments.
    (Proverbs 19:16) "He who keeps the commandments keeps his soul."

  4. We must have compassion for others (love them).
    (Proverbs 11:17) "The merciful person benefits his own soul."

  5. We must endure God's discipline (correction).
    (Proverbs 15:32) "He who refuses discipline despises his own soul; but whoever listens to rebuke gains understanding."

  6. We must guard our mouths.
    (Proverbs 21:23) "Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles."

  7. We must avoid specific sins that harm our souls.
    These include adultery, theft, oppression, harboring anger, bitterness, and associating with thieves (Proverbs 22:24-25, 29:24).

While a police officer found the “garbage dumplings,” it is much harder to find the “garbage” in our souls. Before the holy God, unless we examine our souls deeply with His Word, we won’t even be able to smell or taste the corruption. If we are deceived into thinking that our hearts are upright while they are actually crooked, and we continue living in ignorance of our decaying souls, we will never reflect the fragrance of Christ.

It is important to guard our food, but above all, as Christians, we must be fully committed to guarding our own souls. I sincerely pray that we can each possess a soul that is protected by God, an upright soul, a soul that turns away from evil, a soul that stays far from “thorns and traps,” and a soul that is beautiful in the eyes of God.