The Value of the Soul

An 89-year-old grandmother just departed this world recently, and went home to be with her Savior. While her last days were filled with much physical pain, she expressed no distress over her impending death. She greatly cherished not only the presence of family by her bed, some singing hymns to her during her last days on this earth... but also most certainly, her assurance of where she was heading. She knew her soul was safe because of her faith in Jesus.

But what of those without this peace?

“Does any reader of this paper wish to have some faint idea of the value of a soul? Then go and measure it by the opinions of dying people. The solemnity of the closing scene strips off the tinsel and pretence of things, and makes men see them as they really are. What would men do then for their souls? I have seen something of this, as a Christian minister. Seldom, very seldom, have I found people careless, thoughtless, and indifferent about the world to come, in the hour of death. The man who can tell good stories, and sing good songs to merry companions, turns very grave when he begins to feel that life is leaving his body. The boasting infidel at such a season has often cast aside his infidelity. Men like Paine and Voltaire have often shown that their vaunted philosophy breaks down when the grave is in sight. Tell me not what a man thinks about the soul when he is in the fullness of health; tell me rather what he thinks when the world is sinking beneath him, and death, judgment, and eternity loom in sight. The great realities of our being will then demand attention, and must be considered. The value of the soul in the light of time is one thing, but seen in the light of eternity it is quite another. Never does living man know the value of the soul so well as when he is dying, and can keep the world no longer.”

Excerpt From: Ryle, J. C. “Old Paths.” iBooks.
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