Grace and Peace

Job had lots of problems.  He lost his fortune, his children, and his health. In his distress, Job’s friends come for a visit. Instead of sympathy, thee friends bring accusation and condemnation because they assume that God is punishing Job for his sins.  The force of their words wound Job making him defensive and bitter.  Then God speaks.

After God has spoken, everything is changed. Job has a new view of who God is and this leads him to a new understanding of himself and causes him to repent (Job 42:5-6).  But what about Job’s friends? They have had a wrong view of God and a wrong view of Job.  They have been smug, self righteous and mean to Job. So what does God do? God instructs them to go to Job and make a burnt offering in his presence (Job42:7-8).

This would have been the perfect occasion for Job to gloat and say, “Aha! Here you are! See, I told you I was right! You were wrong and I was right!” But instead of extracting revenge or gloating over them, Job simply did what God commanded. He accepted his friends and prayed for them.This was Job’s final test. Would Job vent his hostility and resentment for these three men who had slandered him? Or would he accept them and forgive them?

You can read about this tremendous turning point in Job 42:9-10:

“So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

To me, the most important word in that passage is the word “when.” When Job prayed for his friends, he was still in agony. It wasn’t until AFTER he interceded for them that God reversed his situation. Job had experienced God’s grace and forgiveness, so he was willing to show the same spirit to his friends.

Lesson: You are in bondage until you can pray for those who have hurt you.

Jesus said it this way, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:28).”

Job’s prayer indicated he was willing to forgive these three men just as God had forgiven him. The most common Hebrew word for “forgive” means “to release.” When you forgive someone, you release them from the grip of your grudge. And in the process of releasing them, you surrender your desire for revenge. When you forgive someone, you are released from the bondage of bitterness.

The point of your pain today may stem from someone who has hurt you deeply. Do yourself a favor, forgive your enemies and start praying for them. It can be an enormous turning point in your life.

“Jesus Christ must be our passion and priority. We must aspire to both know Him and love Him more fully. We must long to see Him ‘come to have first place in everything’ (Col. 1:18). To miss this is to miss everything and to never get out of the starting blocks. (We) need to become more than ever ‘a Jesus intoxicated people,’ returning to our first love. (Rev. 2:4-5). A Christ-centered life must, and it will, inform our theology and inspire our missional service. We must love Him, worship Him, adore Him, exult in Him, share Him and exemplify Him…When the world thinks of us, they should think first, ‘those are the folks in love with Jesus. They are the people obsessed with Jesus. There is a people that talk and act and serve and love like Jesus.”’

May it be so in my life and yours.

Do you recall the first public miracle of Jesus? It was at a wedding party in Cana where Jesus was a guest. They had run out of wine, which was a terrible breach of hospitality. Jesus’ mother asked Him to do something, so Jesus quietly changed water into wine. When the guest of honor tasted this new wine he made this observation to the groom, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:10)

That’s the difference between Jesus and the devil. The devil always serves his best first and then it gets progressively worst. The prodigal son started out with wine, women, and song, but he ended up with pigs, slop, and filth.

That’s a picture of sin. There may be the initial thrill of sin, but the next time it’s not quite as thrilling. That’s why millions are constantly searching for the next pill, the next snort, or the next on-the-edge experience to break the boredom.

The world, the flesh, and the devil always operate according the law of diminishing returns. What starts as a moment of pleasure always ends up as an eternity of misery.

But with Jesus, He always saves the best for last. As the song says, “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”