Year 5, Day 95: Job 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• 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.

I think this is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible.  This chapter evokes so much raw emotion out of my ability to think about God and His ways.  This chapter also evokes so much out of my humanity and my natural desire to find fault with God as this chapter unfolds.  If you want to read more about that struggle, read my theological commentary from three years ago.

Ultimately, though, the reason that I love this chapter is how this chapter ends.  Job hears that all of his wealth has been consumed.  He also learns that all of his children have died in a rather freak accident.  Talk about your worst-case scenario kind of day!  But look at Job’s response.

Job tears his clothes.  He does certainly mourn.  But then he praises God.  He’s lost everything – everything in the world, that is.  But he still has his God.  Even on the worst day of his life, Job says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Wow.  Now there’s a role model.  There’s a man whose Up is good to go.  When Job is at his lowest, he still blesses the Lord.  Job understands that he can lose everything except his relationship with God and he is still winning at life.  So long as he has God, Job has a reason to live.  He absolutely has a reason to mourn.  But relationship with God gives him a reason to live as well.

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