June 8, 2007

Job 19:25 -- Truth in the face of Devastation

Job 19:25 (New International Version)
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth

I got to thinking about this verse. How powerful a statement it is that it was spoken in the Old Testament; by Job no less. The man who by human standards would have had the most reasons to tell God to go jump in the creek. Yet he never complained about the trials and destruction that surrounded him. He desired to know if there was anything he had done that had caused a breach in his relationship with God. I have to believe that it was having truth like this firmly rooted in his life that allowed him to focus on God.
Two things I want to take away from this:
1- DO we have Truth rooted firmly in our lives? How well do we know the truth? How much effort have we put into making those truths relevant to our current situations. Too many have a set of beliefs for their brain and for show and another for practical purposes. This is why the truth was revealed to us! So that we could live a victorious life.
2- Do you truly grasp the depth of that verse? The Redeemer is ALIVE! All that he said is true and can be trusted to come true. Not just select pieces and parts. Not only is he alive and well but he will rule over the earth. That is the God we serve. Following Jesus is not for wimps. The fact is that in light of the gift that has been given, anything that we might call "sacrifice" looks insignificant and meaningless. It's true that in this life we will go through some pretty awful things that we most likely will never be able to understand. (Fill in your own blank here with selected trial) Yet we serve a God who is powerful enough to do miracles in our lives but loving and practical enough to know which things we should go through in order to be more useful to him. It's time to live in practical terms as the three Hebrews did in Daniel chapter 3 (known to a whole generation of kids as Rack, Shack, and Benny). Faced with the biggest trial imaginable; this was their response:

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

There are times after reading certain passages of Scripture we can feel like we did when we left the theatre after seeing a movie like Rocky for the first time. Ready to live victoriously and take on the world!!!!!

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