Good Morning Siblings!
Today’s Readings are Job 17-20
Click here to read today’s passages on BibleGateway.
Rabbit Trails
In today’s reading, one sentence brought tears to my eyes:
Then Job answered and said:
“How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?” Job 19:2
I doubt there exists among us anyone who has not been broken into pieces with words at some point in their lives – and most likely it was someone dear to them and unexpected that did it. Only someone we love dearly can truly break us that sharply.
There is so much to take to heart in this book that it is difficult to process. Instead, like Mary, we must ponder these things in our heart, storing them up for the sake or wisdom and revelation later. (Luke 2:19)
Notice that among Job’s three friends, no one truly understands why he is suffering like he is, but rather than realize and acknowledge that, they find fault in him.
Why is this the case?
This is the difference between someone who “puts on” religion and truly follows after the Father. (The Pharisees are a commonly understood example of this). For someone who just wears religion as an overcoat, it will always be impossible to understand someone who truly seeks after God’s heart. For those seeking to follow the Father and to do His will, it is a given that you will be misunderstood and most likely condemned at some point by the pharisees of your generation.
Recall that the Pharisees did not even recognize our Messiah for who He was – and yet, they were some of the most revered and sought after religious leaders of their time!
They were walking in tradition and rote rather than walking in the spirit. Obeying for justification (which is impossible) and as a matter of status rather than as an act of love. Making a show of being holier than others by obeying their own manmade commandments and requiring others to do the same as if they were as precious and holy as instructions from the Father. (Matthew 15:9)
They had missed the point, and so they missed the Messiah.
In the same way that our Messiah had to walk very much alone at difficult times in his life, we find Job persecuted by those near him and very much alone in his plight. What was supposed to be comfort from his friends serving as a crown of thorns.
But we will see with Job, just as we saw with our Messiah, that the Father does not forsake His servants. When the trials are finished, they will become part of our testimony to the almighty YHWH. Hang in there, siblings, that part is a coming!
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
And I end with encouragement from today’s reading:
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another. Job 19:25-27
Brothers and sisters, He lives.
He is with us now, guiding us, teaching us, molding us, correcting us, and bringing us ever closer to Him.
A reminder: There is no such thing as a secondhand relationship with the Father, just as there is no such thing as a second hand relationship with the Word. No one can read the Bible for us. We are each responsible for searching Scriptures, daily, and seeking the Father’s wisdom for ourselves through our direct relationship with Him.
Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21
We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!
May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!