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.
Today I begin the book of Job. The book begins by telling us that Job was a very wealthy man who was also a man of integrity. One day the Accuser (Satan) came before God. God asked him where he had come from. Satan replied that he had come from roaming the earth. God then asked him if he had noticed Job and how Job was a man of integrity who feared God. Satan this time replied that of course Job feared God because God had made him wealthy, but if God were to take all his wealth from him, then Job would curse God. God told Satan, “You are wrong. Do whatever you want to his possessions, but do not harm him physically.”
Satan left the presence of God. Then one day Job receives messengers one after another who told him that all of his possessions had either been stolen or destroyed and his sons and daughters killed in a natural disaster. Job responded to this news by grieving and worshiping God. Job stood up and said,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”
In all this we are told that Job did not sin.
Satan again came before God. Again God pointed out Job and how, despite Satan urging God to take all he had without cause, he still feared God and maintained his integrity. Satan replied, “Well, take away his health and then he will curse You.” God told Satan, “OK, I will let you test that as well, but you must not kill him.” Satan left God’s presence and struck Job from head to toe with boils.
So, here we have Job, all of his wealth gone and now his body is covered in boils from head to toe. His wife told him to just cures God and die. Job responded that such would be foolish. He would accept both the bad and the good from God’s hand. Three of Job’s friends came to visit him. When they saw him, they tore their clothes and grieved for his suffering. They sat with him for seven days and nights and said nothing because they saw there were no words that would offer comfort. After seven days, Job addressed his friends. He expressed the wish that he had never been born.
I think it is important to note that up to this point Job’s friends offered only support. They came and spent time with him even though it had to be uncomfortable for them. When they first arrived they expressed their grief for his suffering by wailing loudly and tearing their clothes. Then they sat by him for seven days and nights in silence and waited for him to speak before saying anything.
Paul continues his discussion of spiritual gifts by telling us that we should desire spiritual gifts to be used in love. He says that prophecy is the gift that we should desire the most. He contrasts prophecy with speaking in tongues. Paul says that he wishes that all Christians could speak in tongues, but he wishes even more that they all could prophesy. Tongues strengthens the faith of the one who speaks in them, but prophesy strengthens the entire Church. We should desire spiritual gifts which build up the entire Church more than speaking in tongues. Paul tells us that if we speak in tongues, we should pray for the ability to translate what we say. Paul tells us that it is better to pray, and sing, and praise God in the language of those around us than in tongues because then those around us can join us in our prayer, singing and praise. Paul tells us that there is nothing wrong with speaking in tonques, but we should seek other spiritual gifts with greater fervor than we seek tongues.
I think that all too often we as Christians either do not seek spiritual gifts at all or, when we do, we seek the “glamorous” ones, such as speaking in tongues. All to often, when we seek spiritual gifts we seek ones which bring attention to ourselves rather than ones which bring glory to God. On the other hand, there are too many Christians who use just that argument as an excuse to not seek spiritual gifts at all. I pray that God will make me open to whatever spiritual gifts He wishes to give me.
The psalmist tells us that the wicked prepare their weapons to attack the poor and oppressed, but their weapons will be turned against them. It is better to be godly and have little than to be evil and rich. The wicked borrow and never repay, while the godly give generously of all that they have. This tells us the importance of getting out of debt and then staying out. I think this points out a problem we have in our society, where we emphasize borrowing in order to have things now, with not nearly enough thought given to how we will pay off that debt. It is not only considered acceptable to borrow as much as you can and only pay it back at the slowest rate that you can, it is encouraged. It would be better for us as a society, and as individuals, to clear our debt and live off of our current revenues rather than to continue this cycle of debt. We could then use the money we now spend servicing our debt to help those who are in need. The psalmist tells us that such is the course to possess the land and live there forever.
We have two proverbs that link to today’s psalm. The first tells us that the lazy have many desires, but come to ruin because they refuse to do the work necessary. The second tells us that many people are always seeking more, but the godly seek to have more to give to those in need. I seek to train myself to be in that latter category. Material things are seductive. They tempt one by just a few dollars here and just a few dollars there. Then one finds that one no longer has the money to give to charity as one intended. I am seeking to discipline myself against that tendency to spend my money on unnecessary material pleasures, when I should be giving to those in need.