SCRIPTURE: Job 11-14
“So commit yourself to God completely. Reach out your hands to him for help. Get rid of all of the sin you have. Don’t let anything that is evil stay in your tent. Then you can face others without feeling any shame. You can stand firm without being afraid.” (Job 11:13-15)
Zophar has God figured out: live completely for God, and life will go great; sin, and God will punish you.
Seems like the message Christians preach today too: Do good, and you will live; sin, and your sin will ruin you (isn’t this why – according to some Christians – 9/11 happened?).
On the one hand, this is true; we were made to live good and fulfilling lives, and sin is the reason why life falls apart.
But where this is wrong is that it forgets the love and mercy of God.
If hope depends on our commitment to God and good, then there is no hope.
The good news of Jesus is that God loves, forgives and blesses us DESPITE our sin.
No, He does not affirm or approve of sin, but He commits Himself to us BEFORE we commit ourselves to Him; He gets rid of our sin BEFORE we get rid of it; He cleans our tent for us, so that we can face others without shame, and stand firm without being afraid.
It is not because of my commitment to God, but because of His commitment to me, that I have hope.
This is how Jesus related to the adulterous women (John 8), not condemning her because of her sin (that’s what the Pharisees did) but assuring her of God’s love; the “go and sin no more” follows God’s grace, a response, not a prerequisite to God’s love.
Today’s church needs to stop telling sinners to stop sinning, and instead tell them that God does not condemn them but loves them.
Afterall, only when they embrace God’s love and receive God’s Spirit can they even fight against sin.
God’s mercy precedes our holiness, and is the prerequisite to holiness.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
God, You hate my sin, but You never stop loving me. Yes, You want me to be free from sin, but before I can do that I need to experience Your mercy and love and forgiveness. Only then, with Your help, can I “go and sin no more!”
Jesus follower
trying to find His way
Observations/Application
Although the friend has many good thoughts/sayings/truths about God, the main idea is false. Job is not suffering because of in for he was a blameless and upright man. If that were true I too would be ‘dead.’ But the grace of God is at work and at all times, Job serves the living God. So must I. There is a time for everything under the sun.
Those who God has in His hand are secure is Job’s response. No greater comfort is there when I place my hand in His. That is comfort. God is in control.
Job reminds me once again, before we point fingers at others we need to examine ourselves and our relationship with God. Get the beam out of our own eye. We tend to imprison others with our thoughts. Self righteous? Do we/I erode the self worth of another by our comments. Am I a stepping stone or a stumbling block.
Job’s friends were stumbling blocks.
I need to be a stepping stone, an encourager living the JOY principle each day – JESUS is first – OTHERS are second and YOU(I) am in last place. Think of others better than yourself and serve them and I will overpower them with good.
Prayer
Make me a servant Lord, serving Your people wherever I am.
Make me a servant, humble and meek
Lord, let me lift up, those who are weak.
And may the pray’r of my heart always be;
Make me a servant, make me a servant,
Make me a servant, today.