Blogger's Note: While you read through my journal entry today, click here and let this music play quietly in the background ...
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 1st Samuel 18-20 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalm 11 … To study this song, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalm 59 … To study this song, go to this link -
Highlight Reference Passage #1: 1st Samuel 18: 1-4 … 1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
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Highlight Reference Passage #2: 1st Samuel 19: 1-3 … 1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”
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Highlight Reference Passage #3: 1st Samuel 20: 1-4 … 1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?” >>> 2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!” >>> 3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.” >>>
4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”
My Journal for Today: Have you ever had a friend? … No, I mean A REAL FRIEND, … like the friendship modeled by Jonathan in his covenant friendship with David. Actually, I only have one friendship which approaches the covenant relationship which we read about in the passages I’ve highlighted today, which shine a light on the almost super-friendship which is chronicled in the book of 1st Samuel between Saul’s eldest son, Jonathan, and David, the man with whom Saul had a love/hate relationship.
And my covenant friend, … really the only friend I know I can count on always, … is Jesus. And you can read about the essence of my covenant relationship, as described by Jesus Himself in John 15: 9-17; and I’m afraid that MY FRIEND, Jesus, is closer in His covenant with me than I am with Him; but I still aspire to love my Friend, Jesus, just as He loves me.
Now, in my world of human friends, I can only say that I’ve experienced a remnant of the friendship which was modeled by Jonathan in the friendship he had with David. Jonathan was willing to give up and risk losing everything, … even his birthright, for his friend, David. He loved him enough to risk his very life and even the relationship he had with his father for the covenant he established with David. Do you have a friend like that in this world of horizontal relationships? … Very few of us do?
Really, the covenant relationship we read about above between Jonathan and David is a prototype picture of the relationship Jesus was to have with all who received His “friendship” in being born-again into an eternal “friendship” with Himself as Lord and Savior. Jonathan is a picture of Jesus, the One Who was willing to given up even the relationship with his Heavenly Father and to die for his friend, David, … David being the picture of you and me when we come into covenant relationship with our Friend, Jesus.
Sure, I’d love to have a human friendship who even comes close to that modeled by Jonathan and David; but I can always know that I have such a friendship; because I have my covenant and eternal brotherhood with Jesus to rely upon forever. .
My Prayer Today: … Thank you for being my Friend, Jesus! Amen
Showing posts with label relationship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationship. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Thursday, January 27, 2011
January 27, 2011 … Seeking Righteous Attitudes
Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 1 – 3 – As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
My Journal for Today: Yes, I know, you’re probably asking, “How many times do we have to keep digging into Paul’s exhortation about living the life of a true Christian.” And here we are today, once again looking at a seminal truth that Christians must grasp which springs from this passage. The truth is that the Christian life is more about attitude than actions.
Note in Eph. 4: 1 - 3 that not one action command or exhortation is registered. If you look at the fruit of the Spirit, listed by Paul in Gal. 5: 22 - 23, you will see that they are all attitudes - “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” So, knowing that all Christians are grace-gifted with all of these Spirit-given fruit, we come to realize that God gives us a foundation of attitude and then we provide Him with the return of actions which reflect those attitudes. And our actions will always result from commitments which spring from the attitudes which precede them.
Right now, as I am, some of you may be thinking about Eph. 2: 8 – 10. I have that passage memorized in the NKJV, so I will type it in that version of Scripture here:
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 2: 8-10 … 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
And relative to the point I made above about Christian attitudes preceding Christians action, you’ve probably already noted it in Paul’s statement of the truth about born-again Christians. We are saved first BY God’s grace THROUGH the believer’s faith UNTO God’s purpose/will for our lives – i.e., good works. It all starts with God’s grace; but our part begins with faith, a God imparted attitude fruit, which produces good works, the God-willed action fruit.
MacArthur in his Strength for Today, from which my observations have come during this study, teaches that “action-fruit,” such as PRAISE (see Heb. 13: 15) or GIVING (see Phil. 4: 17) are simply legalism unless they result from the maturing of His Spirit-implanted “attitude fruit” (again see, Gal. 5: 22 - 23). And we’ve simply got to recognize that this is truth. Many small-c “christians” miss the reality that righteous actions flow naturally – or should we say supernaturally – from righteous attitudes. Nominal “christians” are more into DOING christian-like things to demonstrate being “christian,” rather than LIVING in Christlikeness as God’s Spirit has given us the attitude fruit to be reshaped into the Savior’s image. And that is religion at the expense of relationship … a lifestyle of legalism rather one of worship.
As MacArthur points out, if we DO things based upon the dos and don’ts of legalism, we are attempting to generate external grace from ourselves rather than utilizing the internal grace available to the truly surrendered Christian. That is nothing short of “Phariseeism;” and we know how much Christ hated and railed against the Pharisees (read Matt: 23: 25 - 26), as He said, “Woe to you [the Pharisees]!” …and using the word picture of cleaning the outer cup without cleaning the inner cup, we see how much Jesus valued the inner man [i.e., attitudes] as opposed to the outer [i.e., actions].
>>> SCRIPTURE: Matt. 23: 25-26 ... "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”
I don’t know about you; but when I see Jesus in heaven, I truly desire to hear Him say, “Well done!,” … not “Woe to you!” And so, I will continue to pray for and seek those attitudes that lead me to the righteous actions which result from His grace and fruit being born in me. Oh, how I desire to be a reflection of John 15 … a FRUITFUL Christian where my actions are a reflection of Christ’s very essence in me. And I can just hope that others who are reading this now have voiced a resounding, “Amen and amen!”
My Prayer Today: O Lord, I seek Your grace to express Your fruit in what I do. Amen
My Journal for Today: Yes, I know, you’re probably asking, “How many times do we have to keep digging into Paul’s exhortation about living the life of a true Christian.” And here we are today, once again looking at a seminal truth that Christians must grasp which springs from this passage. The truth is that the Christian life is more about attitude than actions.
Note in Eph. 4: 1 - 3 that not one action command or exhortation is registered. If you look at the fruit of the Spirit, listed by Paul in Gal. 5: 22 - 23, you will see that they are all attitudes - “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” So, knowing that all Christians are grace-gifted with all of these Spirit-given fruit, we come to realize that God gives us a foundation of attitude and then we provide Him with the return of actions which reflect those attitudes. And our actions will always result from commitments which spring from the attitudes which precede them.
Right now, as I am, some of you may be thinking about Eph. 2: 8 – 10. I have that passage memorized in the NKJV, so I will type it in that version of Scripture here:
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 2: 8-10 … 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
And relative to the point I made above about Christian attitudes preceding Christians action, you’ve probably already noted it in Paul’s statement of the truth about born-again Christians. We are saved first BY God’s grace THROUGH the believer’s faith UNTO God’s purpose/will for our lives – i.e., good works. It all starts with God’s grace; but our part begins with faith, a God imparted attitude fruit, which produces good works, the God-willed action fruit.
MacArthur in his Strength for Today, from which my observations have come during this study, teaches that “action-fruit,” such as PRAISE (see Heb. 13: 15) or GIVING (see Phil. 4: 17) are simply legalism unless they result from the maturing of His Spirit-implanted “attitude fruit” (again see, Gal. 5: 22 - 23). And we’ve simply got to recognize that this is truth. Many small-c “christians” miss the reality that righteous actions flow naturally – or should we say supernaturally – from righteous attitudes. Nominal “christians” are more into DOING christian-like things to demonstrate being “christian,” rather than LIVING in Christlikeness as God’s Spirit has given us the attitude fruit to be reshaped into the Savior’s image. And that is religion at the expense of relationship … a lifestyle of legalism rather one of worship.
As MacArthur points out, if we DO things based upon the dos and don’ts of legalism, we are attempting to generate external grace from ourselves rather than utilizing the internal grace available to the truly surrendered Christian. That is nothing short of “Phariseeism;” and we know how much Christ hated and railed against the Pharisees (read Matt: 23: 25 - 26), as He said, “Woe to you [the Pharisees]!” …and using the word picture of cleaning the outer cup without cleaning the inner cup, we see how much Jesus valued the inner man [i.e., attitudes] as opposed to the outer [i.e., actions].
>>> SCRIPTURE: Matt. 23: 25-26 ... "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”
I don’t know about you; but when I see Jesus in heaven, I truly desire to hear Him say, “Well done!,” … not “Woe to you!” And so, I will continue to pray for and seek those attitudes that lead me to the righteous actions which result from His grace and fruit being born in me. Oh, how I desire to be a reflection of John 15 … a FRUITFUL Christian where my actions are a reflection of Christ’s very essence in me. And I can just hope that others who are reading this now have voiced a resounding, “Amen and amen!”
My Prayer Today: O Lord, I seek Your grace to express Your fruit in what I do. Amen
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
2010 – August 24 – From Checklist to Wish List
Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah 23: 1-8; Jer. 33: 14-26; Jer. 31: 29-40 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 31: 31, 33 … NIV 31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. … 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
My Journal for Today: Reading through the three discourses by Jeremiah from today’s Bible passages, Dr. Smith, in his devotional for this date, points his readers (me) to how God’s people, the Hebrews, will move from a checklist religion to a wish list faith. And as Dr. Smith points out, it’s the difference between a “have to” and a “want to” faith.
The Jews under the Mosaic Covenant were programmed by The Law to be obligated unto righteousness to be saved. Under the Messianic New Covenant God’s people will desire righteousness because their hearts have been transformed by their faith. And as my devotional shepherd points out, “… the Law was said to be a schoolmaster preparing the way for Christ. (And) In Christ we finally grow up!”
Children usually do the right thing because they know the rules; and they know if they break them, there will be dire consequences. But mature adults (hopefully) do the right thing because they know it’s the right thing to do. Dos and don’ts are tailor made for kiddies; but we big people should appreciate doing good stuff because good stuff is done by good people.
In this morning’s devotional Dr. Smith posits, ”Do I live my life out of duty and obligation or out of sheer joy of serving the Lord?” My reader friend, … when we answer that question honestly, we’ll know if our faith is a religion-based faith or a relationship-based faith. From Jeremiah’s prophesy, God’s people will one day have a faith that is embedded in their hearts by a relationship with their Messiah. I would hope that any who read this already have such a faith.
My Prayer for Today: Praise You, Lord for giving me a faith that is a covenant of love You purchased for me on Calvary. Amen
My Journal for Today: Reading through the three discourses by Jeremiah from today’s Bible passages, Dr. Smith, in his devotional for this date, points his readers (me) to how God’s people, the Hebrews, will move from a checklist religion to a wish list faith. And as Dr. Smith points out, it’s the difference between a “have to” and a “want to” faith.
The Jews under the Mosaic Covenant were programmed by The Law to be obligated unto righteousness to be saved. Under the Messianic New Covenant God’s people will desire righteousness because their hearts have been transformed by their faith. And as my devotional shepherd points out, “… the Law was said to be a schoolmaster preparing the way for Christ. (And) In Christ we finally grow up!”
Children usually do the right thing because they know the rules; and they know if they break them, there will be dire consequences. But mature adults (hopefully) do the right thing because they know it’s the right thing to do. Dos and don’ts are tailor made for kiddies; but we big people should appreciate doing good stuff because good stuff is done by good people.
In this morning’s devotional Dr. Smith posits, ”Do I live my life out of duty and obligation or out of sheer joy of serving the Lord?” My reader friend, … when we answer that question honestly, we’ll know if our faith is a religion-based faith or a relationship-based faith. From Jeremiah’s prophesy, God’s people will one day have a faith that is embedded in their hearts by a relationship with their Messiah. I would hope that any who read this already have such a faith.
My Prayer for Today: Praise You, Lord for giving me a faith that is a covenant of love You purchased for me on Calvary. Amen
Friday, August 28, 2009
2009 – Day 239.Aug 28 – Skimming The Surface
Passage of the Day: Job 11 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Okay, … here in Chapter 11, Job is confronted by the least sympathetic of his three friends, Zophar, the so-called Naamathite, who takes a theological approach much the same as the other two advisers … that Job is where he is because of some hidden sin from which Job has yet to have confessed and repented. But Zophar gets more specific in his counsel; and it is ironic that much of what he says has a basis in truth.
And Swindoll in his book, Great Days With The Great Lives and his devotional for today, brings out one segment of Zophar’s argument which bears some application study for us all. Verses 7-8 of Chapter 11 ask some very poignant questions for Job – and for us – to ponder. They are these …
7 “Can you search out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher than heaven— what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol— what can you know?”
Now, ... Zophar came at Job with a very unGodly, haughty, and better-than-thou attitude. However, his questions are deserving of consideration as we isolate them as to their truth in the context of today’s world and life.
Don’t we have a tendency these days, as Christians seeking meaning in this world, to do what I call “Christianity lite.” By that I mean that we try to reduce our Christian existence to a “to do” list of surface performance items. In other words, Christianity means …
1. Go to church on Sunday and put something in the offering plate.
2. Do a Bible study once a year.
3. Don’t smoke, drink, or cuss.
4. Provide for my family; and stay married. [and others]
And if I do these things, and probably a few more on my own list, I’m a “good Christian believer.” And in making sure we have the Christian “to-do” list covered, we’re not answering Zophar’s very pertinent questions. Job’s friend was trying to get Job to go deep and look at his life to see if Job was really living for God in the way God would have us live. And though Zophar’s approach was one of self righteousness, his questions are heavy-weight in their relevance.
When we consider what our lives are all about, are we going deep with our relationship with Christ? Or are we doing what the world deems as “successful” and “righteous” as Christians? And right now I’m thinking about the Joel Osteen or “word of faith” brand of Christianity, where believers are being lulled into pursuits of self esteem and self actualization rather than into disciplines which truly glorify God or develop us as Christians in ways Jesus Himself commanded in Luke 9: 23. Are we denying self, taking up our crosses daily, and really following our Lord? Or are we merely trying to do “good stuff,” thinking that what we think and say about ourselves is enough to be within God’s will? In other words, if we think better about ourselves, does that really make us more like Christ? Or do we need to go deeper and discover God’s will through His word and live out His way in this world?
I think Zophar has asked many of the $64,000 questions; and though Job was not getting the attitude he deserved from his friend, we all need to answer these question in light of how we’re living these days to see if we need to dig deeper into our relationship with Christ so that we might know Him more intimately and to follow Him more closely.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to know You more deeply so that I might serve you more deeply. Amen
My Journal for Today: Okay, … here in Chapter 11, Job is confronted by the least sympathetic of his three friends, Zophar, the so-called Naamathite, who takes a theological approach much the same as the other two advisers … that Job is where he is because of some hidden sin from which Job has yet to have confessed and repented. But Zophar gets more specific in his counsel; and it is ironic that much of what he says has a basis in truth.
And Swindoll in his book, Great Days With The Great Lives and his devotional for today, brings out one segment of Zophar’s argument which bears some application study for us all. Verses 7-8 of Chapter 11 ask some very poignant questions for Job – and for us – to ponder. They are these …
7 “Can you search out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher than heaven— what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol— what can you know?”
Now, ... Zophar came at Job with a very unGodly, haughty, and better-than-thou attitude. However, his questions are deserving of consideration as we isolate them as to their truth in the context of today’s world and life.
Don’t we have a tendency these days, as Christians seeking meaning in this world, to do what I call “Christianity lite.” By that I mean that we try to reduce our Christian existence to a “to do” list of surface performance items. In other words, Christianity means …
1. Go to church on Sunday and put something in the offering plate.
2. Do a Bible study once a year.
3. Don’t smoke, drink, or cuss.
4. Provide for my family; and stay married. [and others]
And if I do these things, and probably a few more on my own list, I’m a “good Christian believer.” And in making sure we have the Christian “to-do” list covered, we’re not answering Zophar’s very pertinent questions. Job’s friend was trying to get Job to go deep and look at his life to see if Job was really living for God in the way God would have us live. And though Zophar’s approach was one of self righteousness, his questions are heavy-weight in their relevance.
When we consider what our lives are all about, are we going deep with our relationship with Christ? Or are we doing what the world deems as “successful” and “righteous” as Christians? And right now I’m thinking about the Joel Osteen or “word of faith” brand of Christianity, where believers are being lulled into pursuits of self esteem and self actualization rather than into disciplines which truly glorify God or develop us as Christians in ways Jesus Himself commanded in Luke 9: 23. Are we denying self, taking up our crosses daily, and really following our Lord? Or are we merely trying to do “good stuff,” thinking that what we think and say about ourselves is enough to be within God’s will? In other words, if we think better about ourselves, does that really make us more like Christ? Or do we need to go deeper and discover God’s will through His word and live out His way in this world?
I think Zophar has asked many of the $64,000 questions; and though Job was not getting the attitude he deserved from his friend, we all need to answer these question in light of how we’re living these days to see if we need to dig deeper into our relationship with Christ so that we might know Him more intimately and to follow Him more closely.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to know You more deeply so that I might serve you more deeply. Amen
Thursday, August 20, 2009
2009 – Day 231.Aug 20 – God’s Presence In Suffering
Passage of the Day: Job 2: 11 – 13 … 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
My Journal for Today: As I sit here and meditate and contemplate on this passage for another day’s devotional, listening to soothing contemporary worship music, I can feel God’s glory being expressed in the music and this scene where Job’s friends shared Job’s grief and sat quietly with him for several days. And I agree with Pastor Swindoll, who expresses the message from this, that this scene is much more expressive of a true relationship with God rather than what will transpire when these same three compassionate “friends” become the voices of isolated religion and worldly wisdom.
You’ve probably read the upcoming speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, where they move from contemplative compassion to intellectual speculation. To illustrate the difference between these two approaches to our witness when we, as Christians, happen upon a friend who is suffering, Swindoll relates the story told to him by a friend of his, one Joe Bayly and his wife, who were grieving the loss of their third child. They had lost a baby years before, a second child at five to leukemia, and, at the time of the story, their 18 year old boy had died in a sledding accident, from complications of hemophilia. Joe related to Swindoll that one Christian friend had come to him and waxed as eloquent as he could, speculating as to the reasons God would allow all of this to happen. Joe said that he understood, in his head, that everything the friend shared was true. But, after some time, the man left; and Joe reported that he was glad to see him go. But then another friend came to their home and just sat with Joe and his wife. They shared tears. They shared prayers. And they just shared togetherness. Joe said when this friend left, he was sorry to see him go.
And that my friends is the difference between Christianity where a relationship with God is shared, … where God’s love is shared with His grace and mercy being the empowering element of fellowship. However, when religion is the motive for sharing, Swindoll reports that the fellowship shares, “… answers without personal relationship, intellect without intimacy.” And Chuck extends this word picture with a poignant sentence about today’s passage and the sharing Job would get from his three friends. Swindoll writes, “The answers [that Job’s friends would give to Job] are slapped on Job’s ravaged life like labels on a specimen bottle.” And that is very expressive of religion without relationship.
When we share God’s love with another, especially one who suffers, it becomes hollow and meaningless to the one with whom we’re sharing, if they cannot feel the love being offered through the personal relationship we have with that person being shared through the empathizing grace of who we are in Christ. At the moment our story for today ended, Job was likely feeling the love and grace of God being administered by these three friends. However, as we move into future passages in Job’s book, we see Job’s questions of God’s wisdom being sparked by the hard, speculative answers which these same three friends would offer to Job thereafter.
These three had done enough at the point our story ended today. They should have shut up and left Job to seek his “WHY” answers directly from God, which, as we know from the book of Job will ultimately transpire. When we offer religion to a friend who suffers, we offer them nothing. But when we give a suffering friend relationship and the dignity of silence in sharing time in empathy, we share God with another. Let us take this lesson from God’s book on the dignity of suffering and make it reality the next time we encounter the suffering of a friend.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be a real friend and share the tears of my sadness rather the words of my head when I find a friend who suffers dearly. Amen
My Journal for Today: As I sit here and meditate and contemplate on this passage for another day’s devotional, listening to soothing contemporary worship music, I can feel God’s glory being expressed in the music and this scene where Job’s friends shared Job’s grief and sat quietly with him for several days. And I agree with Pastor Swindoll, who expresses the message from this, that this scene is much more expressive of a true relationship with God rather than what will transpire when these same three compassionate “friends” become the voices of isolated religion and worldly wisdom.
You’ve probably read the upcoming speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, where they move from contemplative compassion to intellectual speculation. To illustrate the difference between these two approaches to our witness when we, as Christians, happen upon a friend who is suffering, Swindoll relates the story told to him by a friend of his, one Joe Bayly and his wife, who were grieving the loss of their third child. They had lost a baby years before, a second child at five to leukemia, and, at the time of the story, their 18 year old boy had died in a sledding accident, from complications of hemophilia. Joe related to Swindoll that one Christian friend had come to him and waxed as eloquent as he could, speculating as to the reasons God would allow all of this to happen. Joe said that he understood, in his head, that everything the friend shared was true. But, after some time, the man left; and Joe reported that he was glad to see him go. But then another friend came to their home and just sat with Joe and his wife. They shared tears. They shared prayers. And they just shared togetherness. Joe said when this friend left, he was sorry to see him go.
And that my friends is the difference between Christianity where a relationship with God is shared, … where God’s love is shared with His grace and mercy being the empowering element of fellowship. However, when religion is the motive for sharing, Swindoll reports that the fellowship shares, “… answers without personal relationship, intellect without intimacy.” And Chuck extends this word picture with a poignant sentence about today’s passage and the sharing Job would get from his three friends. Swindoll writes, “The answers [that Job’s friends would give to Job] are slapped on Job’s ravaged life like labels on a specimen bottle.” And that is very expressive of religion without relationship.
When we share God’s love with another, especially one who suffers, it becomes hollow and meaningless to the one with whom we’re sharing, if they cannot feel the love being offered through the personal relationship we have with that person being shared through the empathizing grace of who we are in Christ. At the moment our story for today ended, Job was likely feeling the love and grace of God being administered by these three friends. However, as we move into future passages in Job’s book, we see Job’s questions of God’s wisdom being sparked by the hard, speculative answers which these same three friends would offer to Job thereafter.
These three had done enough at the point our story ended today. They should have shut up and left Job to seek his “WHY” answers directly from God, which, as we know from the book of Job will ultimately transpire. When we offer religion to a friend who suffers, we offer them nothing. But when we give a suffering friend relationship and the dignity of silence in sharing time in empathy, we share God with another. Let us take this lesson from God’s book on the dignity of suffering and make it reality the next time we encounter the suffering of a friend.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be a real friend and share the tears of my sadness rather the words of my head when I find a friend who suffers dearly. Amen
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