January 8 – Job 17-20

Today’s reading comes from Job 17-20. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Again we see the back and forth between Job and his friends. Job is in serious torment after suffering the loss of everything and even his health has been effected. His friends keep lobbying that it is his sin that has been the cause of these calamities. Job has not fully denied this, but continually points that he has lived seeking to honor God in all he does, and has repented for the wrongs he commits. Friends, I think this is the proper lifestyle to follow. Still job cannot understand why God is allowing all this to happen.

While Job’s friends are not correct in their blame of Job’s calamities on sin, they are correct in their description about what does happen to wicked men. Bildad the Shuhite describes a wicked man in Job 18:5-21. Take a moment and go back and read those verses. In these verses we are given a glimpse of what happens to the wicked man:

• His lamped is snuffed out
• Light goes out
• His step is weakened
• Trapped by the heal
• A noose is hidden for him
• Death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
• The memory of him parishes from the earth
• Driven from light to darkness
• Such is the place of one who does not know God.

This does not paint a pretty picture. While I do not find this to describe the character of Job, I do find it to describe what happens to the wicked person. And while sometimes on this earth the wicked seem to have the blessings of God in material possessions, let’s remember that without a life saving relationship with Jesus Christ, they have no true hope, they have no true light, they have no eternal blessings! And that is an important and powerful lesson to remember.

As a side note, we are called as followers of Christ to love our enemies. We are to desire that no one perish without hope. So let’s remember, no matter how much someone has hurt you, wronged you, or been incredibly wicked to someone else, we should desire to teach them about a life saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God desires this for even the most wicked people on this earth.