God created humans with 3 parts; a physical body, a soul, and a spirit. The soul is my emotions, thoughts, and will. My spirit was dead until Jesus gave it new life when I first believed in him many years ago.
My physical body temporarily contains my soul and spirit. My physical body is like a tent that contains my soul and my spirit. Paul was in the tent business. This craft consists of mostly mending tents and occasionally making new ones. People use tents as temporary residences. Homes made of wood, brick, and metal are preferred to tents.
When I was young I was in the Boy Scouts. My troop often took trips usually staying in tents. One late fall we stayed near a small river winding through my grandparent’s dairy farm. Most stayed in tents except my friend and me. We decided to make a tent out of a rope and a large plastic sheet. The ends of the sheet overlapped under our sleeping bags.
The first night the weather changed from pleasant to a bitter cold freezing rain downpour. At first, my friend and I were safe and dry in our flimsy tent. However, after 15 minutes ice cold water began sleeping through the overlap under our sleeping bags. We became shivering cold and wet. We soon escaped the poor tent for the warm dry shelter of my grandparent’s farmhouse.
My physical body is like the plastic tent my friend and I made. When all is pleasant my physical body adequately houses my soul and spirit. However, from the day I was born my physical body contained flaws that do not keep well when life’s weather turns for the worse. In bad storms of life, I groan and am burdened. I feel naked, wet, and cold.
However, I have great hope. I believe that Jesus has made something better for me. When my current physical body finally fails I know that God has made a strong dry and warm home for my soul and a new spirit. He will place my soul and my new spirit in a new physical dwelling.
When my body dies I will not be naked. I know this is true because God’s Spirit within me spiritually reminds me of all the time. I live by faith even though I cannot physically see my new spirit, nor God’s Holy Spirit, nor have I seen my new resurrection physical body. Like Paul, I make it my goal to please Jesus who has given me this wonderful hope.