JANUARY 19 READINGS…Job 1:1-4:21.
The book of Job can be a hard book to read…it is hard to understand at some points…but stay with it, the concluding chapters are worth it.
As I read today’s opening chapters of Job it struck me how it was the Lord who pointed out Job to Satan. Satan is our accuser, he hates us, we are told in Revelation 12:10 that he accuses us before God day and night. So it is clear that though Satan is a fallen angel…he still has access to heaven. Not sure why the Lord allows this, but it clearly is part of His plan. When I saw God pointing out Job to Satan, the thought ran through my head was…can God trust my faith in Him enough to point me out to the enemy? What does our faith and our walk look like to God? We worry how it looks to other people, but how does it look to God…shouldn’t that be our main concern? God knows us…He knows we are made of clay…He knows our failings and shortcomings. Yet He is still able to look at us and evaluate our lives and even commend them to the heavenly hosts, and to Satan himself. More than anything I want to live a life that is commendable to God…I fear that far too often I do not. What does God see when He looks at your faith and walk?
The second thing that stuck out to me was the first response of Job’s friend Eliphaz. Eliphaz seems to have the ideology that only those deserving are punished by God. He tried to tell Job that it is clear that he must have sinned or all this calamity would not have come on Job. Eliphaz’s experience was that the righteous are always blessed, and it is only the sinner that has to suffer, and suffer rightly for their sin. Eliphaz was a clear believe in “karma”. I hear even Christians promoting the philosophy of karma…”they got what they deserve.” Jesus made it clear that hard times and loss happens to all people…and it is not based on the “forces” of karma. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “…it rains on the just and the unjust”. It is hardly comforting or helpful to tell someone going through hard times that they are merely getting what they deserve. We know in reading Job that his torment was not because of his unrighteousness, but in fact it was the opposite, it was because God had declared him righteous that Satan attacked him. Be careful giving advice merely from your own experience or perception…it may be advice based in ignorance.
Please share your thoughts on today’s reading. Stay the course daily in your reading…I guarantee you will be blessed as you spend time in the Word of God.
TOMORROW’S READINGS…Job 5:1-7:21.
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