Precious and Valuable Possession

  1. We’re coming into the final go round of speeches from these friends.
  2. I don’t even know what to say about the opening part of the speech in Job 22. He goes off listing sins, which I think we can say with confidence Job didn’t do. I don’t know where these imaginings come from.
  3. Know that when people hurl ugly accusations at you, acting as if they know you are guilty of them, you aren’t the first saint to go through that. They accused Jesus of being demon-possessed and of not paying his taxes. Rest in your heart that you don’t need to defend your reputation. God will defend you to whom it matters. For yourself, know the Father knows the truth and sees you in Christ’s righteousness.
  4. But the end of Eliphaz’s speech this time comes around with some beautiful promises for God’s people, who listen to God’s words, hearing and obeying.
  5. “Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents, then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.”
  6. What a beautiful image of God not giving us gold and silver but being our gold and silver, being our worth, our precious and valuable possession.
  7. What a beautiful picture of our delight in the Lord because He holds us up, hears our prayers, shines His light into our lives.
  8. Life in Christ can be idyllic. It also comes with that rod. And Jesus, the perfect one, suffers from accusations, people wanting to kill him, and doesn’t even have a place to lay His head.
  9. God’s promises are true. They are all true and trustworthy. We just don’t see the whole picture when we’re only looking at the moment in front of us.