What a Job! (Job 1) 090507
I really don’t know how Job can fear God without condition! The story of Job has always amused me, and kept me in amazement of a God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. Yesterday, I just had my Systematic Theology 1 exam. One of the theological issue we have to dealt with this semester is a about the issue of evil. God actually in His sovereignty, allows or permits or even directs events of evil (v8), but He is NOT the author of evil and we, human being are fully responsible for the evil we do or cause.
Job was a good man. He was blameless and upright, but yet he feared God (v1). Isn’t that something we should learn from him? A man like him, feared God. He can have every reason to be less fearful of God, because of his blameless and upright living. And Satan’s charge was that ‘Did Job fear God for nothing?’ (v9)
The question I always have in my mind is why did Job was considered to be blameless and upright? Who consider him blameless and upright? Without much deep reflection, we know (at least I know for myself), that we are far away from being blameless or upright. If anyone say that he is without sin, he is lying. If Job was really that good, he can be confident that he was pleasing to God, but why did he still need to fear God? Have you consider that?
What did Job fear God for? Did Job fear God for nothing? What do you fear God for? Sometimes I fear God for taking away my love ones, sometimes I fear God for exposing all my hidden sins (do you?), and sometimes I fear God would punish me for things that I have done wrong as in not according to His will. How about you? Do you fear God because you think that He is watching over you? Do you fear God because you know that you have done something (whether in thoughts, speech or action) that is not pleasing to God? Do you fear God that God might miss out giving you blessing or hearing your prayers? Do you fear God because you need God in times of troubles like exams (like me) or deadlines in work or having rocking relationships? But Job fear God because God is God!
Through all that Job had suffered, he did not sin nor did he blame God (v22). Amazing right? When we going through troubles the next time, see if we blame God? Or do we let God be God? I was reading a book that defined sin as ‘displacement of God’, which means failure to let God be God and having other things to take the supremacy in one’s life. Do we let God be God? Will we be like Job when we are in times of troubles or suffering? Job is amazing right? What a Job!
