Today’s Scripture Reading (June 6, 2018): Job 16
What we learn as a child follows us all the
days of our lives. It is a simple reality of life that we sometimes forget. How
many planets are in our solar system? My answer is nine, even though I know
that Pluto has been demoted and that the
actual answer is eight. Was Napoleon short? Yes, even though I know that
Napoleon was probably of average height for his time, but as a child, I was taught that he was a short man.
These are some of the answers of my
childhood, and they are the answers that
stick with me through life.
Often, I hear parents say that they want to
let their children decide on matters of faith - “I am not going to force my child
to go to church.” But the reality is that this response is a result of our own apathy about God. If you are devout and
guide your child’s steps into the sanctuary where they can learn about God, you
give them the gift of faith and a belief in
something that goes beyond ourselves. If you don’t, you give the child the gift
of your apathy. Either way, the gift will
be with them as long as they live their lives. What we learned as children can be overcome, deep down I know that astronomers
now only list eight planets even though my automatic answer is nine, but the
process of overcoming our childhood lessons, in the direction of good or evil,
takes a lot of time and effort. The truth is that we prepare our children for
success or failure in all matters of life through the lessons that we teach
them, and the actions that they watch us do, early on in life.
There is a battle that is being waged inside of Job. Even within this
speech, Job asserts that “God has turned me over to the ungodly” (vs. 11) and
that “He has made me his target” (vs. 12). These are Job’s reactions as he
considers his situation and listens to the advice of his friends. This is the way that Job feels in this moment.
And we understand that even though we
know more about the story than Job does at this moment. But Job is not
left alone with just his anger and bitterness brought on by his situation. His
parents also gave him a gift of faith. And it is that faith that does not want
to die, even under these circumstances. It is his childhood lessons that prompt
him to declare that he knows that he has a witness, a true watcher, who is in
heaven and who knows the totality of his story. He has one who will intercede
for him on high.
The lessons of Job, taught to him when he was
young and before disaster struck, continue to hold Job to a path that directs
toward God. It is these lessons that form the bedrock of Job’s faith – the
lessons of his childhood.
And it is the truth of Job’s childhood that
provides a beautiful foreshadowing of the Christian message. The author of
Hebrews picks up the message in that letter.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into
heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let
us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Someone who
understands our trial watches us, and advocates for us in Heaven.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 17
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