March 20, 2024
Passage Read: Job 1-4
Meditation Verses: 4:17-18
Thought
As a man who didn't stand in the presence of God, who doesn't know there Lord or see Him operate, it is understandable that Eliphaz wouldn't know if this were true or false, and so would have no way of knowing if this spirit who spoke to him was true or false. But as people privileged to see "behind the curtain," we can know that this spirit is not a truthful spirit. It is Satan or one of his horde. God did credit man with being righteous in His sight: Job! God is not unreasonable, lashing out at His angels, charging them with sin upon sin. Those are the words of one who did wrong but is unwilling to repent, so he must charge God with unreasonableness, with excessive force and impossible standards. But God does put trust in His servants; He does commission them with projects that they are entirely capable of accomplishing.
Application
These words sound like the words we Christians tell each other: We are sinners and can never have true victory before God. These are not words of victory and encouragement, but doubt and discouragement. They remind us that we have no hope but God, which is good, but at the same time it accuses God of being impossible to please and powerless to give us victory! It is a truth wrapped in a lie. We forget that being made righteous in Christ is not merely an accounting term, but a total transformation of who were fundamentally are! We have everything we need for life and godliness; we can walk in victory and should expect to grow in it until we reach a point where we seldom sin—in this life! Not because of anything we have accomplished, but because of the God who has completed a work in us and continues His work in us. This is a lie that just wants to keep us enslaved to sin, even after we've been set free. This is a lie that assures us that there is no point in striving for perfection in this flesh—there is no hope! This is a lie that justifies our continued pursuit of the things of the flesh and this world, to keep us from living fully for God, and making that OK. I can be just before God; I can be pure before my Maker; He does entrust to me certain tasks; I can serve Him without error.