Wednesday: A House on the Rock
Read Job 31:24-34. What else can we learn about Job?
No wonder the Lord said what He did about the life and character of Job. This is a man who clearly lived out his faith, a man whose works revealed the reality of his relationship with God. This, of course, made his complaint all the more bitter: Why was this happening to me? And, of course, it made the arguments of his friends as vain and hollow as they were.
Image © Kim Justinen from GoodSalt.com
But there’s a deeper and more important message that we can take from the reality of Job’s faithful and obedient life. Notice how closely the life he lived in the past was tied to how he responded to the tragedies that befell him later. It was not by chance, or luck, or sheer willpower that Job refused to “ ‘curse God, and die’ ” (Job 2:9) . No, it was because all those years of faithfulness and obedience to God gave him the faith and character that enabled him to trust in the Lord, regardless of what happened to him.
Read Matthew 7:22-27. What is found in these verses that reveals the reason Job stayed faithful?
The key to Job’s major victory here was found in all the “smaller” victories he had before (see also Luke 16:10) . It was his faithful adherence to right, without being willing to compromise, that made Job what he was. What we see in Job is an example of what the book of James says about the role of works in a life of faith: “Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” (James 2:22, NKJV) . What an important principle of the Christian life is revealed in this text. In the story of Job we see this principle played out in a powerful way. Job was made of the same flesh and bone as all of us; yet, through the grace of God and his own diligent effort he lived a life of faithful obedience to God.
| What choices do you need to make in order to live as faithfully as did Job? |
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Job really knows his priorities and he lived up to them. His first and most important priority is to serve God. His recount of what he does in his life reflects a righteous man who did what he can to obey God's Word. In this day and age, we need to make right choices. Like him, the first major choice we have to make is to choose serving God more than any worldly consideration. Matthew 6:33 says it all. All other right choices emanate from that one right choice...to love God with all your heart.
As we see in job 1:10,there was a hedge put by God around job, this means there was security and protection while was removed after Satan was given permission to try him. This was done out of job faithfulness and obedience. It's our challenge today, to choose the right paths in life and surely we shall see favour of God in the land of the living as God promises in his word, and get prepared more for his second coming.
Faithfulness? Our only responsibility is our ability to respond. That is why we will be casting our crowns at the feet of our redeemer when the time comes. Job's faith was on what God was doing for him during the ridiculous. He didn't let go regardless of the unreasonableness layed upon him. "I won't let you go less you bless me", Jacob said during his Job experience. And we will go through the same experience some day, during the little time of Jacob, and like Job experienced.
Good day my brothers and sisters. Today I made the choice to say good day before I comment on the lesson I do not know how you will react to that, but it certainly made me feel good to know I have that choice and it is a simple choice.
In the lesson it said, Job is made from the same flesh and bone like us. That tells me, like Job, we too can made the same choices as Job did .A choice to obey God in what we do (Luke 16:10). Life is a challenge, but let us try to remain faithful to God and our rewards will be great.
May God bless us and keep us faithful untill He comes. Love to all
Its difficult to live all that we profess. This is where the human impossible can grasp the possiblity with our Creator God. There's hope in His redemptive power. With Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
Do we worship God because we expect something? Would we worship God for nothing?
Amen! Maurice, we worship God because we love Him for who He is (Creator) and for all He has done for us (Saviour). Infact, we worship Him coz we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). He is our Creator and our Redeemer who is always faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). Why? He did not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentence, (2 Peter 3:9) and have eternal life. (John 3:16).
"because we expect something"? You mean like actually believe God's promises?
I would answer:
1. YES! God has given everything in Christ, with more promised/expected to come.
2. No. It's impossible. There is no such thing as "nothing" from God.
Only those who don't worship God will receive nothing. Sad isn't it?
The wise man's house did not fall because it was founded on the rock. We will be able to stand tall, and not fall, if our foundations are deep, firmly rooted and grounded in Christ. It is a process of deep, daily "excavation" of God's word, getting into a deep relationship with Christ through prayer and building on this foundation. The deeper and firmer the foundation, the higher the building it can withstand.
Job was an extremely wealthy man in the entire region as we all know, but he elected not regard his vast wealth as the meaning of his life. Today's billionaires disregard laws/rules and think their wealth gives them special immunity to moral scrutiny. They hold the view that they will not suffer consequences if they do wrong. If they are hauled to the justice system, they know that they can hire the best advocates that will get them out on technicalities. Further, Job refused to practice astrology, like some Christians do today; worship the sun, moon and stars at a time when many did so openly because he knew that was a terrible sin (Hosea 13:2).
Job loved humanity as he showed hospitality to all. He'd not allow any traveler to spend the night in the street and be exposed to criminality. Rather, he opened his tents to lodge them. What is palpably and demonstrably clear is that Job was tempted just as we all are but he resisted temptations as exhorted by the Word (James 4: 7). He refused to speak or act or even think sinfully. It was as though he knew Paul’s command: “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Job was restrained by the realization that such conduct would displease God Almighty whom he served and feared. However, I do not believe and nowhere do we find that he denied that he'd ever committed sin. Rather he would confess and seek God's forgiveness when he sinned just like he did for his children. We too can live such an exemplary life if only we choose to.
Job stayed faithful because "Great and marvelous are Thy works Lord God almighty, just and true are Thy ways O King of Saints!" God's goodness to mankind in their rebellion makes unbelief seem unbelievable. What more could God do?
So blind, the heart willingly deceived by sin!(2 Thess 2:10-12)