I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Elihu concludes by telling Job that God is more powerful than we can even imagine. He controls the thunder and the snow and the rain. God causes large bodies of water to freeze over. Elihu than challenges Job, asking him if he understands how God controls the weather. If Job can do that, then, and only then, is he competent to question God’s judgement. Elihu tells us that we cannot look at the brightness of the sun in the sky let alone the brightness of God’s glory.
     After Elihu concludes, God answers Job. God asks Job if he was there when the Earth was created. God asks Job if he can cause morning to happen? Has he explored the depths of the sea? God goes on to ask Job a long series of rhetorical questions about his knowledge and his power. I read this list of questions that God asks of Job and realize that mankind has answered some of them, but not all. And even most of those we have answered our answers are incomplete. Mankind has spent centuries studying how different aspects of the weather work and our understanding is still incomplete. And what understanding we have comes from many people combining their knowledge over all that time. Ultimately, we were not there when the Earth was created, we can only guess at what happened by extrapolating from things that we see happening today. How often do scientists go back and re-examine their assumptions about how the Earth was formed on the basis of new discoveries?

     Paul starts off with saying that he speaks because he believes. Do we speak what we believe? If we are afraid to speak out what we believe about Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, does that suggest that perhaps we do not really believe it? I think that Paul is indeed suggesting that if we believe we will speak, those around us will know our beliefs. Paul goes on to say that he is not discouraged by the infirmities of his earthly body. He tells us that the pains and dysfunctions that he suffers and which are steadily getting worse, either as a result of aging or of the hardships he endured, are of no consequence next to the spiritual renewal he is receiving. He does not focus on what can be seen and experienced but instead focuses on the unseen which is yet to come.
      Paul tells us that our earthly bodies are a tent which will be replaced by an eternal house, our heavenly bodies. Paul makes an important point here. One which we often overlook when we speak of heaven. He tells us that we will indeed have bodies in eternity. We will not just be disembodied spirits. There is some kind of physical reality to heaven, although it is one that is beyond our ability to comprehend. Paul expresses his desire to to enter heaven not as a desire to leave his body, but as a desire to enter his heavenly body. I had never noticed that this passage is a partial defense against gnosticism, which tends to view our physical bodies as evil to be suppressed. But he, also, defends against those who fear death, pointing out that as long as we remain in our earthly bodies we are physically apart from God. When we leave these earthly bodies we will enter into heavenly bodies in the presence of God. He concludes this section by proclaiming that whether he remains in this body or enters into his heavenly body his goal is to serve God.

     In yesterday’s psalm, the psalmist told us how God won victories for those who were faithful. He gave full credit to God for his successes. Today, he speaks of the trials he now faces. This psalm tells us that sometimes those who trust and follow God will experience hardships and trials they do not understand. Yet even in those times we must call on the Lord. God’s love is unfailing and He will not try us beyond our ability to endure.

     This proverb is fairly simple. The lazy person can always find an excuse to avoid hard work. We need to examine, I need to examine whether my reasons for not doing something are legitimate. or just an excuse not to work. I know that I excel at coming up with excuses not to do things, or to put things off. I must strive to be more faithful in carrying through on those things I choose to do.