"He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psalm 23:3, ESV

The house I live in and the church I worship in are each more than a century old, so I've seen a lot of construction and renovation work over the years. Though they are not living things, buildings are subjected to stress and wear and tear that can have serious consequences. Pipes may leak; ceilings may crack; floors may warp. I'm sure you could add your own house woes to the list. The problems may be because of natural causes or the result of neglect and abuse.

Our bodies also go through physical deterioration — as the natural result of aging, because of illnesses or accidents, or simply from not taking good care of ourselves.

More serious is what happens to our souls. We suffer when the devil attacks us with temptations, trials, lies, or persecution; when people hurt or mistreat us; or when we shift our focus away from God and stray from Him.

With regular maintenance and checkups — whether for our homes or our health — we can usually avoid the need to take drastic measures. We can't prevent every problem, but we can keep problems to a minimum if we're alert and disciplined.

With regular examination of our hearts in light of Scripture and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can avoid spiritual pitfalls and the devil's traps. Problems will still come our way, catching us off guard and threatening to destroy us; but our Shepherd who loves us, provides for us, and leads us also restores us. Better than any renovation job, better than any antibiotic, Jesus Christ can restore our souls and bring us back to a place of joy and peace

As you color in the doodles on the opposite page, meditate on the words "He restores my soul" and talk to God about areas of your life that need His healing touch.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

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Several years ago, someone at my church shared a praise report about his mother's successful heart surgery, but because of his heavy accent, many of us thought he said that she'd had a "peacemaker" put in. Of course, he was referring to a pacemaker, but we all were suddenly struck by the wonderful significance of the term peacemaker.

What a great picture of coming to Christ for salvation! The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. This means we are born with a nature that is inclined to rebel against God, and this keeps us from achieving the level of perfection that God's holiness demands. We are born with a spiritual heart disease that we cannot cure on our own. People try all kinds of remedies of their own — such as escapism, self-help books, or retail therapy — to deal with the symptoms and try to make their hearts feel better, but none of these actually brings about a cure.

The good news is that when we submit to God and allow Him to perform "open-heart surgery" on us, we are cured! Whether you think of it as bypass surgery or a heart transplant, God heals us. He removes the cancerous sin tumor or the plaque of sin blocking our spiritual arteries and restores us. And then He gives us the Peacemaker. When the Holy Spirit enters our lives, He helps our hea