Washable Marker
“That will do,” I thought as I grabbed an empty pencil box. I was looking for something to illustrate my point to our daughter. “You are a spirit; in this case, you are a washable marker. You, the spirit, live in a body, also known as a pencil box. Your spirit animates your body, it makes your body live so, without your spirit, your body has no life, it’s dead (James 2:26). Let me make that point very clear, your body may be dead, but you are still alive, remember you are a spirit,” I said taking the marker out of the pencil box. I placed the pencil box under the cushion of the couch and put the washable marker on the top shelf of the bookcase. “When your spirit leaves your body, your body goes into the ground, and your spirit goes to eternity, also known as heaven. So, where is Dah-dee’s body?” I asked. “It’s in the ground,” she answered pointing toward the couch cushion. “Good, but where is Dah-dee?” She climbed on a chair to reach the top of the bookshelf; there she placed a tiny toy plate piled with Cheez-It’s in front of the washable marker. “Dah-dee is in heaven snacking!” I think she gets it.
Humans are three-part beings, body, soul, and spirit. Our body is the physical with which we experience the senses and interact with the world. Our soul is the psyche, made up of our mind, will, intellect, and emotion, and is indicative of our distinct self. With our souls, we can either relate to the carnal world or to God through faith. Our spirit is the innermost being that we have in common with God. Scripture says, “God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When we accept salvation through Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit transforms our spirit and saves our soul (1 Thess. 5:23, Rom. 1:9, 10:9-10, 1 Cor. 6:17). “Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit…You must be born again” (Jn. 3:6).
There is a well-known radio and television personality who calls himself Charlemagne the god. He recently did an interview where he was asked what he was afraid of and he answered, “death.” I thought it was ironic that someone who calls themselves a god would be afraid of dying but Mr. Thegod is not alone, the fear of death is very common, so common that there is a field of study called thanatology, the scientific study of death. One of the main reasons behind the fear of death is fear of the unknown but in fact, scripture tells us everything we need to know about death. Jesus Christ defeated death at the cross! Death has been conquered! Death is a defeated foe (2 Tm. 1:10, Rev. 1:18)!
God is an eternal God. He has no beginning and no end (Isa. 40:28, Heb. 7:3). When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior you will live eternally with Him (Jn. 5:24). Nevertheless, we are made in God’s image so we too are eternal beings. Once we are conceived, we have no end, whether we are saved or not we will live eternally…somewhere (Matt. 25:46, Jn.11:26, 2 Thess. 1:9). If you have not accepted salvation through Jesus Christ, you should be afraid, but not of the death of your physical body, you should be afraid of the fact that you will live forever. Where will you be in 100 years? I'll give you a hint... you will be alive. In a hundred years, in a thousand years, you will be living eternal life, the question is, will it be with Jesus or without?
We are spirit, we possess a soul, we live in a body. One day, our washable markers will reunite with our pencil boxes in the resurrection. The dead bodies of those who lived in Christ, will rise and be joined with their spirits and become glorified (1 Cor. 15:42-44, 52, Phil. 3:20-21). “For the LORD Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD” (1 Thess. 4:15-17).
If you would like to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, pray this prayer and believe:
Jesus, You died upon the cross and rose again to save the lost. Forgive me now of all my sin, come be my Savior Lord, and friend. Change my life and make it new, and help me LORD to live for You (Romans 10:9-10, Salvation Poem by Matt & Sherry McPherson).
