Job XI

 Zebras can’t change their stripes, a leopard can’t change its spots, and the devil can’t change his nature. Whether he’d want to or not is another conversation altogether, but as far as his predisposition to try and cast a shadow on anything good, noble, and decent, it was par for the course, something so engrained in him that he could not resist it. In his insistence that even the one man God pointed to as being blameless and upright was so for ulterior motives, Satan was being true to his nature.

He couldn’t let God have the win. He couldn’t live with the idea that one man among all men desired God's presence in his life to the point of shunning evil and living blameless and upright. There had to be some other reason for Job’s faithfulness. There had to be a motive behind his being blameless and upright other than to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord. The pettiness in Satan’s character is both evident and offputting. It is who he is, who he’s always been, and anyone thinking the devil wants to be their friend is fooling themselves and ignorant of his true nature.

Although there were likely other rich men on the earth during the time of Job, he alone was blameless and upright before God. Job was one of one, a singularity, and it is his uprightness and blamelessness that God took note of rather than any material possessions he may have accumulated. What matters to God and what matters to men is often very different.

Even Satan had to acknowledge the blamelessness of Job. He didn’t say Job wasn’t blameless and upright; he inferred that he was so for an ulterior motive. The devil is a master of the pivot, so much so that one wonders if he learned it from politicians or if politicians learned it from him. If there were anything in Job’s life that could have been used against him, if there had been any hidden sin or practices uncharacteristic of one who is blameless, Satan would have been quick to point it out. Since there wasn’t, his next line of attack was Job’s motivation for being a blameless and upright man. The enemy doesn’t give up after one failed attack. He keeps finding new and inventive ways to bring a charge against the children of God, hoping that one will stick or have the desired effect.

It’s always shocking how many preachers, pastors, teachers, and evangelists give in to temptation and stop living the life they profess to live, and rather than being forthright about their moral failings and confessing their sin, they try to hide it, hoping no one will ever find out. Someone always does. The pattern is clear. Either the enemy has something to hold over your head, and you begin to water down and dilute the message at his behest, or he exposes you for all the world to see, causing undue mockery and ridicule to the household of faith.

Jesus said that nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. This was a declarative statement with no addendums, carveouts, or caveats, yet here we are, and every day, some new thing is brought to light that serves the church with another black eye.

There was nothing in Job’s life that Satan could point to and challenge God’s assertion that he was blameless and upright. If there had been, he would have ferreted it out and would have pointed to it with all the glee of a toddler discovering silly putty.

The reason the Word tells us we are to walk circumspectly and be above reproach as sons and daughters of God isn’t arbitrary. It’s not something God decided upon offhand or flippantly, but that the enemy would have no charge to bring against us and no means by which he could shipwreck our testimony. Each of us will give an account of himself to God. For some, this is a terrifying prospect; for others, it is a reason for joy, for once an account has been given, God will determine the reward for the faithfulness exhibited.

I’ve never been able to reconcile the notion of someone saying they believe the word of God when He says he is both omniscient and omnipotent, even going so far as teaching these truths, then turning around and practicing full-fledged rebellion. Either they never believed it to begin with, or they considered the momentary, fleeting pleasure of their sin to be more important than eternity in God’s presence.

When the enemy has no substantive charge to bring against you, he will resort to innuendo and attempted character assassination. With Job, it was trying to cast doubt on his motivation for fearing God and shunning evil, but that’s just one of many ad hominem attacks he levels against believers, and more often than not, he uses other believers to do it.

One of the most common criticisms leveled against me is that I am unloving because I refuse to water down the Gospel or insist it says something it clearly doesn’t. In my younger years, before the graying hair and arthritic knees, I used to take the bait more often than I do today, trying to defend myself and insisting that speaking the truth is not unloving but that we should prioritize truth over feelings because truth matters, and feelings don’t.

The explanations never seemed to matter. People had made up their minds; they’d fit me in a specific box, and however much I’d try to explain that it was loving to warn people that sin leads to death, it would fall on deaf ears. It took me a while to figure out the game, but once I did, I stopped playing. I realized it was the enemy trying to demoralize me. That was the game he was playing. His purpose is to prevent you from walking in your calling if he can. How he does it is irrelevant to him as long as he succeeds in some form or fashion.

Since he could find no fault or shortcomings in Job, Satan targeted his motivation, implying that the reason for Job’s faithfulness wasn’t something as noble or pure as true love for God but due to having the work of his hands blessed and increasing his possessions in the land.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.