Job 14-16

Daily Reading

Job 14-16

Daily Thought

Job fought hopelessness from his seat in the ashes, a poem of pain. Describing life as a withering flower or a shadow that fades (Job 14:2), he asked is it only that life is hard and then you die? The question is as modern as it is old. Peggy Lee sang in the sixties, "Is That All There Is?" Jack Nicholson settled for life "As Good as It Gets." Bugs Bunny reminds us weekly, "That's All, Folks!" But Job persisted, and his questions were as deep as his sorrow and suffering would dig. His friends were stuck asking (and answering), "Why?" as if an explanation would bring peace, but Job looked to hope, "If a man dies, shall he live again?" (Job 14:2). We die before we are dead when hope is lost. The answer is long in coming and it will not be why, but who, because it's not a solution that's needed, but a Savior.

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." ~John 11:21, 25-27

Daily Prayer

Eternal God, you are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The End and the Beginning. Your ways are pure, You are holy and true, a firm foundation. You do not change with the wind, but I do. When I do not trust in You with all my heart, when I do life my way, when I forget You, I lose my way.

Thank You for sending Your Word, written, which lights my path. Thank You for sending Your Word, Your Son, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. May I walk this life with You for the few years I have. Then a bigger and better journey begins!

Amen