Saturday, June 24, 2017

Saturday, June 24th: Job 1-2; Acts 7:22-43 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Job 1-2; Acts 7:22-43

Job 2:10 “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?”
As Christians, it is very easy to believe the lie that if we are faithful, God will always reward that faithfulness by blessing us materially and physically in this life.

Sometimes He does.  But not always.

We are always blessed when we are faithful - spiritually.

But rain falls on the faithful and the wicked. Bad things happen to "good" people (and I put good in quote because none of us are good apart from the Holy Spirit's transformation of our lives).  We live in a fallen world and the effects of sin are all around us.  Sometimes bad things happen to us because of our sin, sometimes bad things happen to us because of someone else's sin, and sometimes bad things happen to us because of the existence of sin.  It's just the way life is.

Jesus never promised us an easy life.  Indeed, He and virtually all His disciples died a martyr's death and we should not expect better than they!

But He did promise to be with us, to never leave us or forsake us, and that eventually, eternally, all will be made right.

13 Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.This is the correct response to suffering.  If only Job's friends had stayed silent!  There is often no need to talk - in fact, we often mess things up when we try.  What our friends and family need from us is our presence, our empathy, our love.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year PassageJob 3-4; Acts 7:44-60

2 comments:

Conrad said...

Great point on not expecting a better life than what Jesus or His disciples had. Thankfully we do have His promise of Him always being there with us.

Nathan said...

Job 1:20-22
Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.[c]
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

Job knew and had it right, we can't take anything with us when we leave the earth. The only thing that matters and will count is our relationship with God.