In our society the Doctor has the responsibility to guide the patient into the best state of living possible for the  body and the mind.  Christians have long stated that there is also the soul and the spirit that need encouragement.  Let me tell you my heart on the matter.  The body is a physical organ that we study seeking to maintain in the best possible health state for as long as we live. The soul is that part of us that enjoys and delights in the various pleasures and rewards of life.  It too is a very important part of us.  The spirit is that which involves us in the wonder of adventure and worship.

I have addressed this article to the soul of the patient.  It is  that part of us that may be happy or sad.  Therein we may find the depths of discouragement or mountain tops of delight.  Even the Scripture says “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?”  Some of my dearest patients have a deficiency in joy.  For them, life is full of sorrow and empty of fulfillment.  As I seek to care for the whole person of my patients, I find myself flooded with sympathy and empathy for the shallow and disheartening life that some have to endure.  It is with this that I would offer a few thoughts and suggestions.

First let me relate my own story.  As a six year old child I felt utterly forsaken and heart broken when I was abandoned by my father.  A lonely and somewhat discouraging life was to follow for many years.  I finally joined the Navy when I was 17 years old.  A fortunate turn of events  came into my life there.  Some Christians took an interest in me and I was invited to their meetings.  In time I heard clearly the Gospel and I repented of my sins, took the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior and life began to turn around. I searched diligently the Scriptures and sought the fellowship of Christians. There was a deep quiet  joy that began to fill every portion of my life.  I felt a victory that enabled me to overcome despair and temptations.  I had a happiness and pleasure deep in my soul and I had an unconscious smile on my face.  People would ask me what I was smiling about.  All I could say was “I’m glad you asked.  Let me tell you!”  I am now nearing the end of my days on earth as a happy man.  I look back on a life that has been made very glad.  I possess a deep satisfying contentment.  I have a peace that passes all understanding.  My wife is a helpmate indeed.    My six children all profess to know and serve the Lord.  My grandchildren are all my delight.  I have a happy soul.  Lest I should sound like bragging, I would add “By the grace of God through Jesus Christ my Savior.”

I wish to go a step further than just a physician caring for your body.  A “merry heart doeth good like a medicine”. I would like to do you good as to your soul.   Years ago while attempting to do this with a young high school girl, I gave her a gospel tract and sought to talk with her about salvation.  It made her very, very angry.  She went outside and tore the tract into little pieces and threw them on the ground in front of the office and vowed she would never see me again.  She was in the school class with my son Travis.  Several years later when she attended the 10th anniversary of the High School graduation she approached him and told him this story.  And then she added something like this:  “Tell your dad that I really messed up my life after that, but there was a turning place.  I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.  My life is now happy and full.  Tell your Dad!”

Many find life sad and filled with experiences of anger, frustration, disappointment and sorrow.  There can be a turning place from these unfortunate parts of life and I would seek to tell you how.  You may think me a bit old fashioned and narrow, but consider what I have to say.  Once there was a prodigal son who came to himself and decided that he wanted something better than he was experiencing in the trials of life. He said to himself, “I will arise and go to my father.”  This is what we call repentance.  Turn your back on the world and its sin and pleasures and direct your path to the Lord who died for you on the cross of Calvary.  Now is the day of salvation and you must do it now, for tomorrow may be too late.  Hurry and do it now, don’t linger in the paths of sin and temptation.  The Lord is waiting for you with outstretched  arms to bring you into His Holy family. He not only promises you everlasting life, but also promises life more abundant.  I have never found a Christian who would say that it did not happen. Now you must not take my word, but let me give you a word that you can depend on for all eternity. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; That whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

If you have come with me thus far, let me lead you another step down the way.  When I returned from my time with the US Navy, I had a great desire to find the Lord’s people and identify with them.  After Christians had recognized the sincerity and reality of my conversion, I was baptized.  Thus I yielded myself as dead to this world, buried and risen again to newness of life and identified myself with My Lord and His people. Herein I publicly told the world about me and whose side I would be on for the rest of my life.  It was good, but there was more to come.  I began to read the Bible. Much I did not understand, but I began to grow in the knowledge of the things and plans of the Lord.  I would listen as older Christians would speak of the Lord and His plans and purpose for the future.  I longed to share what I had found with others about me.  Some would ridicule and argue.  Some were very intimidating and despising.  But I had crossed the line and there was no turning back.  I sought to share with others the riches and pleasures that I had found in My Lord.  As I spread the seed of the Word of God I began to notice that in some places the ground was hard, or rocky, or filled with stones. But I found also that there was good ground and some took it and were genuinely converted to the Lord.  What a joy that was.

As time went by I found a fellowship of believers where we met together.  Oh what help they were.  They sympathized with my short comings and helped me when I would stumble and fall.  I soon found that I couldn’t get along without them, and fellowship was sweet as we walked with the Lord.  I was a help and companion to them, and they to me.  Today I have friends all over the world and even around me close by, and it is great.

It wasn’t long till I found something that I count a precious treasure and privilege.  The Christians that I met with would gather once a week around a table with a loaf of bread and a cup of wine in the center.  They called it a remembrance meeting and spent an hour remembering the Lord, singing songs to Him in worship and speaking of all His wondrous works.  I never git tired of this  It is a joy, when sins have been confessed, to present to Him the sacrifices of our heart in worship, our lips in praise, and from our pocketbooks in thanksgiving.  We plan to keep on doing this till our Lord comes or until He takes us to glory.  I have not found anything like it anywhere in the secular world.

One other thing I would like to share with you is the encouraging teaching that I have received in the assemblies of God’s people.  The Word of God is a light unto my path.  It is counsel to my soul when I am distressed; it is a challenge to my spirit when I think of the opportunities of service for the Lord.  It brings a peace to my soul that surpasses understanding and leaves me a contented, satisfied and happy old man at the end of my days.

Before I close this little letter to you, please allow me to speak to your soul.  Why not turn away from sin and the world and the Devil?  True repentance will get all things right with God.  Why not take the Lord Jesus Christ as Your Lord and Saviour now? Why not follow through to the happy life about which I have sought to tell you? Why not do it now, go to your knees and find the Saviour?