“And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.” (Omni 1:26). The Lord expects us to offer our whole souls as an offering to Him. Now, whole can mean entire. It is clear that the Lord wants us to offer all of our soul to Him, holding nothing back. But whole can also mean healed, restored, unbroken, or free from injury or hurt. Of course the Lord wants us to turn to Him when we are broken and wounded and lost and confused. But once we through our faith have been made whole, then we are to offer our whole souls to Him - our healed and restored and mended souls. Ten lepers came to Jesus and offered broken hearts and contrite spirits as they pleaded with Him to cleanse them. One only returned and offered his whole soul in gratitude. Jesus cast devils out of many, but it was Mary Magdalene who devoted her entire life and her whole, cleansed soul to Him. Our gospel journey often begins with a broken soul, and if that is the best we can do, it is enough. But if we decide after we have been healed that we no longer need the Lord in our lives, not only are we courting disaster and leading inevitably to the destruction of our repaired and healed soul, but we are depriving ourselves and the Lord from the blessings that come when we worship and offer Him our whole and unbroken souls. I hope that the more and more our souls are healed and made whole, the more completely we offer our whole souls in both senses of the word to our Savior Jesus Christ.
