Year 5, Day 108: Job 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Competency, Up

• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.
• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

The end of this chapter is a very deep sentiment as expressed by Job.  A man mourns only for his own pain.  In other words, we are inherently selfish.  We are inherently focused on our own needs and our own concerns first.  On one hand, this completely makes sense.  I spend every waking moment in my own life.  You spend every waking moment in your own life, too.  Simply from that perspective, it should make sense that I am focused on my own life.

However, do you recall what Jesus calls the two greatest commandments?  Jesus tells us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.  Jesus tells us that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Do you hear what is mysteriously missing from that?  Jesus doesn’t tell us to focus on ourselves.  He tells us to focus on God and our neighbor.  I think this is because Jesus knows that we won’t have any difficulty at all focusing on ourselves.

But I can’t help but wonder how this applies to being a disciple of Jesus.  Is God my Up?  When things are going well, is God my up?  When my life is crashing around me, is God my Up?  Am I really competent at worshipping the Father in all situations, not just when it is convenient for me?

What about my neighbor?  Am I as competent at worrying about my neighbor as I am at worrying about my own life?  I’m so naturally focused on my own life and my own needs.  How tuned in am I to the needs of the people that God is putting into my life?

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