How to Be Blessed Like Job
“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. And He was the greatest man among all the people of the East” Job 1: 1-3
This passage is taken from the familiar book of Job in the O.T. Most people, Christian or not are probably familiar with the account of this patron saint of suffering. To read chapter one and get some context, click here.
I think there are several important lessons we can learn from these first few verses of the book. First of all, we are told that he was “blameless and upright, that he feared God and shunned evil”. And verse three tells us he was wealthy and great or honored. Is there a connection?
Long Life is In Her Right Hand. . .
We know from Proverbs 9:10 and many other scriptures that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”. And Proverbs 3: 16 has this to say about wisdom: “Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor”.
Since we know from verse one that Job feared God, we could also infer that he was wise since the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And because he was wise, he had the rewards of wisdom which include wealth and honor (Proverbs 3:16).
Job wasn’t blessed merely because he called himself a “Christian”, because he went to church or even because he was obedient. I believe he was blessed with wealth and honor because he was wise or mature. Because the seed of wisdom within him had grown and matured to the point of bearing fruit.
Only Mature Seeds Bear Fruit
The seed grew and matured because Job continued in the Word and was obedient to it. Eventually his persistent obedience caused the seed of wisdom to grow and mature until it bore the fruit of wealth and honor. We don’t get this fruit until the seed has matured. Because only mature seeds bear fruit.
We don’t get it just because we’re obedient for a while or when we feel like it or when it’s easy. We get it because we continue in His Word and don’t grow weary in well doing.
And we get it in due season if we’ve been faithful to weed and water the seed so it could mature and bear fruit in season. This verse conveys the same idea. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” Psalm 84:11.
The word “blameless” in this verse means “entire, integrity, truth, without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely, sound, without spot, undefiled, upright, whole” (Strong’s Concordance of the Bible). It’s a comprehensive word and we don’t obtain it from a week or month of obedience.
According to James 1: 2-4, we obtain it from trials that test our faith. Specifically, we attain to it after we endure trials that test our faith. In other words, after our faith has passed the test. And not just once or twice. So, we aren’t blessed with every good thing until we’re blameless. We don’t become blameless unless we endure (pass the test) trials that test our faith.
Why James Was Right About Trials
So, here’s the progression: Trials > Testing of our Faith > Endurance > Blameless > Every good thing. In the final analysis then, if we want to be blessed with the fruit of wisdom and every good thing we should rejoice in trials. Because this is the medium God chooses to bring us into abundance. Now of course, Job went through some trials after he was blessed. But that’s another blog post.
To read a post similar to How to Be Blessed Like Job click here: Why Does God Let Us Suffer? It’s NEVER Random.
Although many of my posts are intended to motivate Christians to grow up so they can be blessed, that shouldn’t be our main reason for wanting to mature. Ultimately, everything we do as a Christian should be a response to what He’s already done for us.
From Foolish to Wise to Foolish Again
In fact, growing up and becoming wise is only the first step in the Christian experience. Some already come to faith with a measure of this, but many do not. And as we’ve learned, wisdom and maturity bring rich rewards. But that’s not the end of the journey.
Once we’ve done the hard work to become wise and are experiencing the benefits, the next step is to give it up for Christ. In other words, to become a fool for Christ. We then have come full circle. We’ve gone from foolish to wise and back to foolish again. To learn more about this click here: What It Means to be a Fool for Christ.
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