The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. Luke 16:22-23
Your soul matters because your soul will experience everlasting joy or misery. Jesus told a story about two men who died. One was “carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.” What exactly did the angels carry? Certainly not the poor man’s body. It would have remained on earth.
Since he was a poor man, he may not even have received a proper burial. Nobody cared for him in life, so it may well be that nobody knew where his remains were after he died. So, what was carried to Abraham’s side? Not the poor man’s body, but his soul.
Then we read: “The rich man also died and was buried.” So everyone knew where his grave was. His body was placed in a rich man’s tomb, with words and dates carved into it. Then Jesus says, “in Hades… he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off.” What was in Hades? Not the rich man’s body. It was in the tomb. It was the rich man’s soul.
The point here is very simple. Death takes life from the body, but not from the soul. When you die, your soul goes on to one of two places—one is a place of great joy, the other, according to Jesus, is a place of great torment. And there is a great gulf fixed between them (Luke 16:26). You can’t get from one to the other—in either direction.
What we learn from this is that there is a heaven to pursue and a hell to avoid. You have a soul: Your soul can be saved or your soul can be lost. To lose your soul is the ultimate disaster because it is the only loss from which you can never recover.
Have you given much thought to where your soul is going when you die?
