Daily Reading // Job 35-36
(Find the daily reading on Pastor Jim’s Blog)
https://jholm5.wixsite.com/pastor-jim-blog
S // SCRIPTURE
Select a verse from today’s reading
Job 35:7 (NKJV) If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?
O // OBSERVATION
Why did this verse get your attention? Make a simple observation from the text
How does God benefit from the good that I do?
If He does benefit in some practical way where He actually needs what I can provide to Him, then would He be God at all? If I added to Him, or completed Him in some way then He is not God Almighty, the self-existent One. He would not be ‘I Am That I Am’.
Then why does He instruct me to be righteous? Because it benefits me, not Him.
A // APPLICATION
How can I apply this to my life today?
This makes me think about those movies about savages in the jungle who lived near a volcano. They believed the gods needed a human sacrifice - usually a young virgin - to be offered every once in a while or else the volcano would blow.
Any ‘god’ who needs something from mortals isn’t really God at all.
Sometimes we keep some of that old savage thinking into our relationship with God, as if He needs anything from me for His own satisfaction. God needs nothing. He existed long before we were on the scene. Everything I have comes from Him.
So when God tells me to live righteously it is always for my good, not His good. I am the one who benefits by being obedient to Him.
God is pleased by my obedience. It is a type of worship. My relationship with Him is expanded as I trust Him.
Like a loving Father, He loves to see me making good choices.
P // PRAYER
Express yourself in prayer
Father, I know You love me and want the best for me. I believe Your Word holds the answers for me. Thank You for Your great care. Amen.
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