Job 22:1-5 - Then Eliphaz the Temanite
replied: "Can a man be of benefit
to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? What pleasure would it give the
Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways
were blameless? "Is
it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?
Is not your wickedness great? Are not
your sins endless?
It is round three of the heated debate between Job
and his friends. They came at first to comfort Job…but their assumption that
Job had not repented of some sin caused the session of comfort to become a
heated debate between the four friends. Eliphaz takes another turn at trying to
convince Job he has done something wrong…and steps into crazy territory….and
says that God didn’t even need Job…good or bad…it made no difference.
One needs only to go back to Genesis to the creation
story to see that God created us with a purpose in mind. He had created a world
with everything we would need to sustain our life….in a perfect utopia. He
created us for companionship….for service…to praise him….and because the love
he help in his heart overflowed into the creation of man…so he could finally triumph
over satan and provide a way for all to be saved.
He knew when he created the world that Adam and Eve were
going to eat the fruit that would open their eyes to sin…and he allowed
it. He knew that Job would hold on to
his faith and prove his friends wrong. He
knew that Mary would accept the crazy knowledge that she was pregnant without
knowing Joseph….so that he could send his son into the world to die for our
sins.
He knew that Saul would listen when he was knocked
off that horse…and turn his life of hate and murder of Christians into a life
of preaching that transformed the early church. He knew that you and I would
struggle with every concept written in his word…and fall short of the perfect
life he planned for us when we were born.
God needs us…or he wouldn’t have created us. He
needs us to love others and spread his good news of salvation for all. He calls
us all to different jobs…and promised in John 14 to send us the Holy Spirit to
help us. We just have to be like Job…and
hold on tight as the world shouts at us the opposite of what we believe. We
just have to call out to the father for help…and he will send it.
Father… thank you for the reminder this morning that
I am needed…and loved …and saved by your grace and mercy. Help me to take time today to praise you…and
honor you…and pray to you for guidance and strength. Show me the job you
created me for…and help me find the right path to find it…so I can serve you
like never before. Amen.
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