Friday may 20, 2011

As I was pondering this quality that God attributed to Job, I began to think of others that had the characteristic of being upright or being righteous. I went back to Abraham as he began his journey. Abraham was told to leave his homeland and his family and go to a land he did not know. Once there he was told to separate from Lot, another member of his family. He didn’t have any of his own children and was getting older. He begins to question his role and legacy with God. God asks him to look to the heavens and the stars and to count them if he is able. When Abraham looked to the heavens, an interesting thing happened to him. “Abram believed the lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:28). He came into right standing with God because he had faith in God’s ability to create and to provide. His trust in God caused him to be upright or righteous. Being righteous has nothing to do with ourselves, but only our faith in God.

When I pondered what the Lord said about Job, it began to make more sense. “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright. . . .” (Job 1:8). Job was upright because of his belief and trust in the God of the Universe. That’s why Job said, and said: “The lord gave and the lord has taken away; may the name of the lord be praised.” (Job 1:21). Because of his faith in God, he recognized that the Lord had control of all of life and trusted that the a lord was going to take care of this situation. He believed God and his belief or faith in God caused him be be righteous.

Blameless is something we have control over. Righteous is something that comes on us when we have faith in the God of All. On this journey where we put our faith determines our standing with the Lord.