“… (The Lord) said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.’” … “After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” … “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” (Job 42:7b, 10, 12a)
Obedience; it is vital to the walk of a Christian. What is the point of saying you are a believer in God and yet ignore His word? Why would you live your life and not follow the statutes of the King? Job was attacked by Satan; God allowed it to show Job’s level of obedience and devotion to Him. Satan was allowed to do all manner of punishment to him and all that belonged to him, just short of taking his life. Job was visited by 3 seemingly trusted friends who cast aspersions on his character by assuming that he had done wrong in the eyes of God and was therefore being punished. John 9:3 comes to mind: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” God was putting Job’s faith to the test and in the end he passed with flying colors as shown in vv. 10 & 12.
What does Job have to do with us today? Many times calamity strikes at our heart or our entire family and we don’t understand why. What good is our faith if it is not put to the test? If a ship at sea never encountered violent storms, how would the captain know it was truly sea worthy? The true test is whether our faith abandons us or if we know our God so intimately that it stands strong in the face of any test. After Job had gone through his trial and come out on the other side of it, God asked him to pray for his friends. God was angry with them for their lack of support and their failure to tell the truth about God to their friend Job. If was only after Job followed God’s instructions that the Lord restored to him more than he had once had. His obedience was rewarded. We, too, are to obey our God, even in the face of mounting odds. Nothing and no one is greater than God. God’s nature will never change. Obeying Him should be a ‘no-brainer’, as the saying goes. We shouldn’t even have to give it a second thought. It is when we disobey God that things get dicey. Faith leads to trust which leads to reliance which should lead to obedience. We can only accomplish all this by cultivating an intimate relationship with our God.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
