286 Tuesday, October 13, 2009

286 Job 3 – 5; Matthew 13.24 – 13.58

For seven days Job had been silently suffering and now he breaks his silence. He does not curse God, but the pain has grown unbearable to the point that he curses the day he was born. This is Job's lament of all that has happened to him including the loss of his health. He is in emotional, spiritual, and physical pain. If he were only dead then he could be in Sheol which is where the dead rest with no pain. When a person suffers they will lament. God does not expect us not to. Jesus Christ was hurting in the garden and expressed His emotions to the Father. Job expresses something that we need to listen to when he says,

Job 3:25 (MSG) 25 The worst of my fears has come true, what I've dreaded most has happened. The worst of my fears has come true. This is what we try to avoid in our thoughts and in our discussions--the worst of our fears.

We know that Job lived through all that he went through and had to face his fear(s). Our prayer to God is that the Lord would help us to face our fears and to ground us in our faith in God.

Here is an interesting teaching of Jesus,
Matthew 13:37-41 (MSG)
37 So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man.
38 The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil,
39 and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels.
40 "The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act.
41 The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom,

What we sometimes do not understand is that the wheat and thistles grow up together. It is not our job to separate the wheat from the thistles. God is going to send his angels to weed out the thistles from his kingdom. The implication for us is that in any church, or church organization there will be wheat and thistles. If you believe you are a believer, a follower of Christ, then follow that path with all your heart. Focus on getting your life right and keeping your life right.