Job’s “eye covenant” is needed today more than ever. In our sex-saturated culture, young men are constantly bombarded with images that warp their view of women. And young women are damaged by our culture’s over-sexualized view of beauty. We’ve lost the idea of “pretty.” We teach our little girls to be “hot” and “sexy,” then wonder why they struggle with low self-image. We need an “image covenant” that aligns with God’s design for human sexuality.
This is a profound question: Do we “spread the the knowledge of Christ everywhere?” And the second: Are we like a “sweet perfume” as we do so? Do all of our relationships know of Christ because of us? Do we present Him in attractive ways? Does the fragrance of God’s love permeate where we pass? Are you yet so captivated by Christ that you live to tell everyone of Him in the most beautiful ways possible?
Parents, discipline your child and teach them the right way while they are still young. It’s much easier to correct a 3-year old than a 13-year old. Focus on heart change, asking the Lord to help you, and perhaps someday you will know the joy of having your 30-year old walk beside you, holding the hand of their 3-year old doing the same.
God gives us an excess of comfort in the places where we have suffered. Once we are comforted, we are able to comfort others who have suffered in the same way. Have you been healed of a deadly disease? Delivered from an addiction? Found peace after losing a loved one? Your greatest hurt may now be your greatest gift to others. Let God’s comfort overflow to those who hurt where you once did.
Christ had not yet interrupted history by His death, burial and resurrection, yet Job already hoped for such a “Redeemer.” Job placed his hope in this future Messiah as one peering through a veil. However, we can gaze fully at our Savior with the revelation of the gospel shining as in the light of day. If Job could “know” that his Redeemer liveth, then we should know all the more!
Paul teaches us about the resurrection body. He compares it to sewing a seed in the ground. The seed dies, but a new living plant sprouts from the earth. Jesus is the firstborn from among dead. His resurrection body is the prototype. Someday we will be like Him.
At the core of the Christian faith is the message of Christ’s resurrection. If the tomb is not empty, there is no Christianity. Gospel preaching must include these historical facts: Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he was buried, and three days later he was raised from the dead. This is the message we preach. This is the message we have received and believed.
Have you ever felt like Job? At times like this even well-meaning friends can be a burden. Only God can get us through such seasons. God isn’t afraid of our questions and concerns. Bring them to Him. Don’t stuff or medicate. Pour out your trouble before God. Come to Him as you are and leave changed. He can turn your misery into joy.
God is love. To be “godly” is to express this trait. Perhaps the greatest verse in the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave…” To be like God we must have the kind of love that gives. God is a giver, not a taker. Are you a consumer, or a contributor? Are you greedy, or a giver? Do you desire to be godly? Receive God’s gift of salvation through Jesus, and then start loving and giving!
Noted for the absence of God’s name in its text, the book of Esther describes the origin of the Hebrew holiday of Purim. While God is not mentioned specifically, His help and favor are implied between the lines. I wonder how often God is at work in our lives without getting credit?