Job CLXXIX

 The fleeting nature of life, possessions, friends, acquaintances, positions, and the world as a whole is a topic most refuse to delve into or even acknowledge because of what it all implies. There are currently people who, rather than coming to terms with their mortality and the temporal nature of our existence here on earth, endeavor to find ways and means by which they can attain immortality, optimize their decaying bodies, and cling to this mortal coil with all the tenacity they can muster. These are not unintelligent people if we were to evaluate their intelligence in comparison to their contemporaries, but even intelligent people are no more than mere fools when they refuse to see the futility of their lives absent God.

You can have it all. Wealth, health, prominence, and fame, and absent God, it’s all for naught. It’s an illusion, perhaps even a self-imposed delusion, because try as you might to tell yourself you’re not getting older, the gray hairs and wrinkly skin say otherwise, and though you may insist that you’re as resilient, strong, and overflowing with energy as you were in your twenties, when the fifties come calling, you’ll realize you’re not.

Life is an ever-present tradeoff. When we’re young, most of us have strength, energy, and the vigor of youth, but lack wisdom. As we grow older, the strength, the energy, and the vigor begin to ebb, but in exchange, we grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and focus on the things that truly matter in life, the things that give it meaning and purpose beyond the momentary excitement of acquiring a new toy to add to our ever-expanding collection. That countless souls are growing older but not wiser should be a wake-up call, one that does not bode well for future generations, but we like to lie to ourselves and insist it will all work out, and eventually wisdom will make itself known even though we malign it, demean it, ignore it, reject it, and leave it bloodied in the street.

It is not given to us to know at what age Job attained wisdom, not the wisdom of this world, of a particular trade or ability to see value in what others didn’t, but true and lasting wisdom that echoes through eternity. However, given his integrity, spiritual maturity, and faithfulness, it was likely decades before his hour of testing came. Job had known for some time that the only thing that matters in one’s life, the one thing that is indispensable and you can’t do without, is God.

Possessions come and go, jobs come and go, even friends come and go, but if the one constant in your life is the presence of God, if the one constant is fellowship with Him, then though you may lose everything, you’ve lost nothing.

Whether Abraham, Jacob, Joshua, Moses, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Paul, every man who stood out as a hero of the faith, a fearless defender of truth, assigned the appropriate value to the presence of God in their lives. It’s not about your ministry, it’s not about your calling, it’s not about your natural abilities, it’s not even about your vision; it’s about knowing God, walking with Him, feeling He is present, and establishing true intimacy with Him.

Everything in one’s life, especially when it comes to ministry, must flow from the reality that God is preeminent and supreme over one’s existence in its entirety. If our focus shifts from God to something else, no matter how noble the endeavor, no matter how spiritual the pursuit, no matter how much it bears witness with your spirit or how many people cheer you on, it will not end well because your purpose has become something other than His presence in our lives.

It’s the same problem those who will claim to have prophesied in His name, cast out demons in His name, and done many wonders in His name will run into when they stand before Him on that day of days. They may have very well done those things, but they never knew Him; they never knew the Christ; they never had fellowship with Him; and He was never Lord of their lives.

It’s a heady thing to consider that men who exhibited more power than most mega-church pastors do today will be sent away because their purpose was the work, the ministry, or the authority rather than the excellence of the knowledge of Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Job never attempted to highlight his attributes and insist he deserved better because of what he’d done. He didn’t itemize how many hungry he’d fed, how many poor he’d helped, how much time he’d spent in prayer, or how many burnt offerings he’d brought before God. He didn’t offer his relationship with God as proof of his innocence. None of our accomplishments are proof positive that we are in good standing with God; only God declaring that we are makes it so. Only being born again and washed in the blood of the Lamb transforms us, and there exists no substitute. You can’t work your way into heaven, give your way into heaven, preach your way into heaven, or earn your way into heaven.

Men who at one time prophesied, cast out demons, and did many wonders in the name of Jesus will be turned away because, though they may have done these things, Jesus was not on the throne of their hearts; they were not born again, and practiced lawlessness throughout.

Job knew he had no ulterior motives when it came to loving God. There was no violence in his hands, and his prayers were pure. Few today in the higher echelons of Churchianity can say the same.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.