2009 – Day 260.Sept 18 – God and God Alone

Passage of the Day: Job 28 … Linked for study …

My Journal for Today: Chapter 28 of Job’s search for answers is one of my favorite chapters in this great Book; and Swindoll gets right to the nitty-gritty of the chapter in his devotional as he exposes two concepts Job pursues in Chapter 28; and the two are “wisdom” and “understanding.”

“Wisdom," according to Swindoll, is “… looking at life from God’s point of view.” And Job uses an elaborate word picture in Chapter 28 of the mining practices of his day as the way mankind must search for God’s mind or His will. And so, Job’s perspective on our search for wisdom would have man choosing to go deep and digging for the jewels of Godly understanding so that we can bring out God’s way at viewing life.

And that brings up the second of the concepts which Job pursues in this Chapter; and that is “understanding,” which according to Swindoll is “… responding to life’s struggles and challenges as God would have us respond.” And Job, after describing how man must go deep, even risking life it self, to find God’s infinitely valuable nuggets of life, asks the pointed questions we all need to have answered to have meaning in life in verse 20 of Chapter 28. He says, “Where does wisdom come from? … Where does understanding dwell?” And his answer is the title of my devotional today, “… with God and God alone!”

Solomon’s declaration of this truth makes this pursuit of wisdom and understanding from God all the more evident, as he writes in Proverbs 9: 10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Therefore, putting together what Job and Solomon say, we come to the conclusion that a reverent and diligent pursuit of God’s will by digging into God’s truth is the only way to find Godly wisdom and understanding. It’s the only way to be able to make sense of a senseless world; and it’s the only way to be able to respond to meaningless circumstances.

That’s where Job was at this point in life as we find him in Chapter 28, having experienced a chain of confusing and inexplicable circumstances, all of which had him reeling with confusion. And then, the world, personified in his three friends, began giving him worldly knowledge which did not reflect God’s mind as Job knew it. And as we’re going to see, as Job’s tale unfolds, Job knew God’s mind well enough to understand that he, Job, needed to go deeper to pursue Godly wisdom; and he did. And as is God’s promise, when we go deep to know God and pursue His will by digging into His word, He will reward us with His wisdom (check out James 1: 5).

So, my friend, I pray that we’re all be setting down our mine shafts and mining deeply into the truth of God, by knowing/understanding His word, to discover God’s will and to view the world as our Lord would view it. Then, and only then, will we be able to respond to life in the way God intends for His children to respond.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to go deep to find the jewels of Your wisdom and to live by the nuggets of Your understanding. Amen