A Fat Soul

Americans may well be the fattest people in the world—not every American, of course, but a great many compared with other nations. We worry about our weight, we make attempts to control it, we spend huge sums to lose it. (Statistics vary from 43.4 to 65 billion dollars spent in the weight loss industry last year!)

Too little attention is given to having fat where it counts—in the soul! What is a fat soul? One that is blessed, enriched, full, content. And what makes souls fat and flourishing? Here are a few things:

Diligence: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.” (Proverbs 13:4 NASB)

Generosity: “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” (Proverbs 11:25 KJV)

Worship: “Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” (Psalm 63:5 NASB)

There are a few people around who have shriveled souls, no fat at all. Things don’t shrivel up just because they are old. Wrinkled prunes are not necessarily old; they are dried. People with wrinkles are not always old, but sometimes the skin and underlying tissues have been damaged. And wrinkled souls can be of any age; they have lost their “moisture” and “elasticity” and are dry or damaged. One remarkable Scripture tells us about skinny souls.

Speaking of the Israelites who had to wander in the desert region for forty years, the Scripture relates, “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106:13-15 NKJV) So we must add to the list of fat-producing qualities —

Yieldedness: “Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.” (Isaiah 55:2 NKJV)

So while you may be thinking about monitoring your weight during the approaching holiday season, give some thought to adding fat to your soul!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scriptures marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, courtesy of the Lockman Foundation. Scripture quotation marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible, public domain. Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com