“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. – Job 2:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 18, 2015): Job 2

Military Historian and Novelist Caleb Carr commented in an interview in the late 1990’s that we “want to believe that there's one relationship in life that's beyond betrayal. A relationship that's beyond that kind of hurt. And there isn't.” I think that most of us desperately want to believe that Carr is wrong; that there are some relationships are beyond betrayal – that some relationships will endure no matter what happens. I see this kind of relationship every time I look at my wife, my children and my grandchildren. I can’t imagine what it would take for me to betray them. And yet life seems to continually prove us wrong. I have watched as others have betrayed those closest to them. We are betrayed and we are hurt. But what might be even worse, we also all stand on the other side of the situation, we are all the betrayers. And we stand in good company. Some of the greatest heroes of the Bible were guilty of betrayal in order to save their own lives, including Abraham (who betrayed his wife), David (who betrayed his own integrity) and Peter (who betrayed Jesus). And every one of them only wanted to save one thing - their own lives.

This is the heart of the message as Satan speaks to God about this man Job, a man who God describes as being blameless and upright. And Satan’s accusation is that Job is like every other man. When push comes to shove, Job will betray his God to save his own skin. And the charge against Job actually goes even deeper than that. Satan’s charge is really that Job loves himself more than he loves anyone else in his life. He may not betray God because of the pain that his wife and children go through, but if God threatens Job’s life, if Job is forced to live in pain; that is all that Job really cares about. God has to threaten Job’s skin.

The threat to our own health might be one of the biggest character testing moments that we will face in this life. How we react when we are in pain tells a story about the depth of our faith. And it is only a test that we are able to pass with the help of God – and this is exactly what Satan and Job are about to learn as the testing of Job continues.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 3

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) message "The Practice of Worship" from the Series "Extreme Soul Building" is now available on the Vantage Point website. You can find it here.