Easter Devotional - Day 36
"Then Yahweh asked, 'What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him—he is truly a good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil.' 'Why shouldn't he respect you?' Satan remarked. 'You are like a wall protecting not only him, but all his property. You make him successful in whatever he does, and his flocks and herds are everywhere. Try taking away everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face.'" Job 1:8-11
These verses encapsulate the basic premise of the book of Job. If God pays us with earthly blessings for our righteousness, are we truly righteous, or are we just working to earn God's blessing, and therefore only superficially righteous? On the other hand, true character only verifiably rises to the surface when things go wrong for us. When all goes well, our truest character remains untried, untested, and therefore unknown.
At heart, we want to be paid for our service to God. Deep down, we want to earn our keep, for it gives us a sense of self-worth and control over our lives. We are likewise averse to the idea of watching the evil, greedy, and underhanded get away with unrighteous actions, manipulate the system, and enjoy material success. We often watch with a sense of being misused and cheated as the burden of restraint. We compare our level of comfort with the likes of a Bernie Maddoff, Wall Street speculators, or bailout executives. We wonder how so many get away with so much, wishing there were a more fair way of apportioning wealth according to righteousness and character.
Economic wealth is no indicator of righteous standing before god. If anything, the accumulation of wealth would tend to raise questions regarding one's true measure of righteousness. The real question and assessment come in times of crisis, loss, grief, and pain. It is how we face the storms of life that portrays the character of our faith and faithfulness to God. On the other hand, it is often during times of economic downturn that a people turn to God in a dependence forgotten in times of plenty.
Righteousness simply does not correlate with wealth, status, or even one's standing in society. It is just too easy to hide one's unrighteousness in the guise of social uprightness. We are all too familiar with the scandals of political figures, trapped in their behind the scenes misdeeds against their projections of propriety. The public face does not reliably show the heart; neither does material blessing evidence one's faithfulness toward God.
God was not averse to Job's wealth, but neither was God averse to the idea of taking away Job's prosperity. This was not a question of punishment. It was a question of growth. In the context of adverse conditions, and only then, Job's character had its chance to shine forth and be exercised. Growth flows from stress, not from comfort. Righteousness needs exercise from the experience of pain, difficulty, suffering, and loss. This is where we move from knowledge about God to a true dependence upon God and the will to live accordingly in righteousness. It is also the life chosen by God in Christ Jesus, who amid conflict and opposition openly displayed the meaning of love, grace, and righteousness in example for us all. The Lord of all creation did not enjoy the material blessings we are wont to expect from God. Rather, he lived a life of hardship that we might see his true character and worth.
Check your decisions for the motivations behind them and what they say you value.
"Lord, grant me the wisdom to look beyond material rewards to living a sincere righteousness."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
My latest books can be found here on amazon
These verses encapsulate the basic premise of the book of Job. If God pays us with earthly blessings for our righteousness, are we truly righteous, or are we just working to earn God's blessing, and therefore only superficially righteous? On the other hand, true character only verifiably rises to the surface when things go wrong for us. When all goes well, our truest character remains untried, untested, and therefore unknown.
At heart, we want to be paid for our service to God. Deep down, we want to earn our keep, for it gives us a sense of self-worth and control over our lives. We are likewise averse to the idea of watching the evil, greedy, and underhanded get away with unrighteous actions, manipulate the system, and enjoy material success. We often watch with a sense of being misused and cheated as the burden of restraint. We compare our level of comfort with the likes of a Bernie Maddoff, Wall Street speculators, or bailout executives. We wonder how so many get away with so much, wishing there were a more fair way of apportioning wealth according to righteousness and character.
Economic wealth is no indicator of righteous standing before god. If anything, the accumulation of wealth would tend to raise questions regarding one's true measure of righteousness. The real question and assessment come in times of crisis, loss, grief, and pain. It is how we face the storms of life that portrays the character of our faith and faithfulness to God. On the other hand, it is often during times of economic downturn that a people turn to God in a dependence forgotten in times of plenty.
Righteousness simply does not correlate with wealth, status, or even one's standing in society. It is just too easy to hide one's unrighteousness in the guise of social uprightness. We are all too familiar with the scandals of political figures, trapped in their behind the scenes misdeeds against their projections of propriety. The public face does not reliably show the heart; neither does material blessing evidence one's faithfulness toward God.
God was not averse to Job's wealth, but neither was God averse to the idea of taking away Job's prosperity. This was not a question of punishment. It was a question of growth. In the context of adverse conditions, and only then, Job's character had its chance to shine forth and be exercised. Growth flows from stress, not from comfort. Righteousness needs exercise from the experience of pain, difficulty, suffering, and loss. This is where we move from knowledge about God to a true dependence upon God and the will to live accordingly in righteousness. It is also the life chosen by God in Christ Jesus, who amid conflict and opposition openly displayed the meaning of love, grace, and righteousness in example for us all. The Lord of all creation did not enjoy the material blessings we are wont to expect from God. Rather, he lived a life of hardship that we might see his true character and worth.
Check your decisions for the motivations behind them and what they say you value.
"Lord, grant me the wisdom to look beyond material rewards to living a sincere righteousness."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
My latest books can be found here on amazon
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