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46And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation."

I have to smile when someone says that they don’t believe in the soul. They somehow think that the "soul" is a religious phrase. Yet your soul isn’t something you have. It’s what you are. You are a soul. You have a body, but you are your soul. It’s nothing at all to do with religion. Your soul is your life. It's your personality--the real you, and the real you lives in a fearfully and wonderfully made body.

However, your "spirit" is a completely different thing. Mary said that her soul magnified the Lord. She honored God and gave Him heartfelt praise. You "magnify" someone when you honor and praise them. You build them up. Of course God doesn’t need us to give Him honor. His essence shines above the brightness of the sun. Still, in this case one humble human being magnified the Lord, and her "spirit" rejoiced in God her Savior.

You are made up of three parts--body, soul, and spirit. Your body is the machine in which your soul lives. The soul is your self conscious part of you--your emotions and your will. But your spirit is the God conscious part of you, and the Bible says that until we are born of the Spirit (see John 3:1-5), your spirit is "dead in trespasses and sins," and you are therefore not conscious of God's presence. You are forever in the presence of God, and you are not aware of it. That certainly was my testimony. For 22 years I didn't have a clue that I was always in the presence of the omnipresent God.

How true are Mary’s words. All generations do call her blessed. Every Christmas she is honored as the one who bore the Savior of the world. Mary was a sinner. She desperately needed a Savior, and so are we sinners, who need the One who can save us from death and Hell. Do you know that He has done "great things" for you? Do you fear Him? You will never partake in the mercy of God until you fear God. You will cling to those darling sins until His eternal justice gives you what you deserve: "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5).