Passage of the Day: Reading Plan Reference – Day 4 … Job: Chapters 1 - 5 … Study Scripture Reference: Job 1: 1 - 5 NIV … 1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
My Journal for Today: Okay, today in Day 4 of my chronological read through the Bible, we switch from Genesis over to the book of Job, which was the first of the five, so-called, books of poetry and wisdom in the Old Testament (the others being Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon). Now I don’t want read here like I’m some Old Testament expert. No, … because the reading plan shifted me over to the book of Job, I did some internet digging and found a nice piece on the book of Job, which along with a couple of others, helped me to put this inspired piece of writing into Scriptural perspective for me. So in that regard, let me link any of my readers here to this productive little study piece for your study as well.
If you read through that piece, you’ll see that there is historical/biblical controversy among Bible Scholars as to the authorship of Job. But knowing and believing in the truth of Isaiah 55: 11 and 2nd Timothy 3: 16 – 17 , I KNOW that God, the Holy Spirit was the truth-bearer in this Book, as He was for all of our Scripture study. So, no matter which human author we might opine, God was our author of truth as we read about Job.
And after reading the first five chapters, I returned to the first five verses, describing the character of Job as what God’s Spirit wanted me to focus on in my journal entry for today. And after one reads about what God – and Satan – put Job through, we have to know that Job was a good – a very good – man; and he didn’t deserve any of the trials God allowed Satan to put upon him.
Job, whether he was a real historical figure or the character of a poetic parable [as some think], … he was a righteous man, … a disciplined believer, … a good father, … and a man “who feared God and shunned evil.” Yet bad, … very bad, … yea, EXTREMELY BAD … things happened to this good man.
Have you ever been in a place in your life where you’ve felt, or maybe even declared to others, “I don’t deserve this!” I’d bet here that most of us have. But Job’s circumstances “take the cake,” don’t they? Here was a very righteous dude, doing all the right things in his life; and WHAMMO [!], he’s hit with a mack-truck in his life; and God is at the origin of it all. Way no fair, God!
And then the poor guy is set aside with poor advice from his wife and three friends, who seem to personify the old adage, “If these are my friends, who needs enemies!” Wow, … maybe you’ve gone through a scenario in your life where you were run over by one of those mack-trucks and then you got well-intentioned, by skewed advice. It’s certainly no surprise that our hero, Job, gets thrown into a tailspin of confusion and feelings of abandonment – even from His God, Whom he had trusted – even through all that bad stuff which came down on him.
In going through these five chapters of Job’s story, and especially the first five verses of Chapter 1, I’m really praying that I can be like Job should any “mack-truck” circumstance come my way. I want to be one, going through “Jobian” times, who will stick with my God, … who will continue to trust my Lord, … who will keep pursuing God’s will and His way no matter what happens down the road of life, … who will listen to others but will judge what they say based on God’s word not on the feelings which come in bad times, … who become a warrior for God in spite of the circumstances rather than let Satan get the upper hand in my life; … and I want to be one who will come through the minefields of life (knowing the end of Job’s story), following the only ONE Who can lead me successfully to/through God’s passage. I want to follow my Savior and His light through life, as did Job, even though I may struggle, moving ever onward until I achieve the prize for which God has for me down the road (see the NT and Paul’s writing in Phil. 3: 13-14), which is eternal life in glory with Jesus.
That’s where Job’s story points me; and for it, I say a loud … HALLELUJAH!!!
My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank you for Job’s template of life. Help me to be like him when I face the trials life. Amen
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