Young People’s Blog

“In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:22).

“In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).

Have you ever had a lot of bad things happen to you in a short time? When those bad things happened to you, did you sometimes feel angry that the Lord had allowed those things to happen? Were you sometimes tempted to say something bad?

Job had some awful things happen to him. First he lost all his wealth and all his children, and then got so sick that no matter what he did, he was in pain. You can read about all this in the first two chapters of Job. I am sure that none of us ever had anything like that happen to us.

Yet Job did not say anything bad, even when his wife told him to “curse God, and die.” That is often the way unbelievers act, when serious trouble comes into their lives. Maybe you have heard unsaved people swear when something bad happened to them. But Job did not do anything like that; he accepted it all from the Lord. That is a good lesson for us, for just as the Lord allowed it all for Job’s good, so He allows everything in our lives for our good.

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed [hated] evil…this man was the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:1,3).

Many people have not paid much attention to the book of Job, but it is a very interesting book. We have talked about Job before, back in January, but let us look a bit more closely at the book. Although it is placed between the books of Esther and Psalms, it is much older than both of them. Job probably lived about the time of Abraham, and in the land of Uz, which was likely southeast of the land of Palestine.

Although he was not connected with Abraham or any others that we read about in Abraham’s time, yet he was a God-fearing man who lived an upright life before the Lord. He was also a very wealthy man, and had ten children. We do not know for sure who wrote the book of Job, but many think that it might have been Moses.

Just think, what a wonderful thing it is that you and I can read today about a man who lived nearly 4,000 years ago, and read all about what happened to him, what he thought and said, and what his wife and his friends said to him! There are some very good lessons we can learn from the book of Job. We will not go into a lot of detail about the book, but we will mention some things in the next few days to teach us something, and perhaps to encourage you to read the book of Job, if you have not read it.

“I am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine” (John 10:14).

On a farm not too far from our home, there is a large flock of sheep grazing in a pasture. However, there are also two donkeys grazing in the same field as the sheep. As far as I know, those donkeys are not used for work on the farm, nor have I ever seen anyone riding them. Why would the farmer put them in the pasture with the sheep?

Even though they do not know it, those donkeys are there to protect the sheep. As in many areas where we live, the pasture is surrounded by trees and woods. It would be easy for coyotes or even wolves to come out and harm or kill the sheep. But when they see those donkeys, the coyotes and wolves stay away.

However, those donkeys are not like a shepherd. They do not care for the sheep, and if a sheep were killed by a coyote, the donkeys would not care. But a true shepherd knows his sheep, and tenderly cares for them. He also defends them, not just by being there, but by going after any animal or person who would harm the sheep.

The Lord Jesus is our Shepherd, and He is a true Shepherd. He knows us, and we know Him. When we are with Him, we are safe.

“For dogs have compassed Me…they pierced My hands and My feet” (Psalm 22:16).

“The inhabitants of Jerusalem…shall look upon Me whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10).

In Psalm 22, David prophesied that the “dogs” would pierce the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus. All through the Word of God the Gentiles are portrayed as dogs, compared to the nation of Israel, for God had chosen Israel to be His special people. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, it was the Romans who actually carried out the sentence and put the nails in His hands and feet.

However, in Zechariah, it clearly says that in a coming day the people of Jerusalem (that is, the Jews) will look upon the Lord Jesus as the One whom “they have pierced.” Why is this? It is because both the Jews and Gentiles are guilty of the death of the Lord Jesus. The Jewish nation demanded that Pilate crucify Him, because they hated Him. But Pilate did not have to give in to them. He knew the Lord Jesus was innocent of any crime, but in order to satisfy the Jews and avoid a riot, he condemned an innocent man to be crucified. Surely all the world is guilty before God.

How wonderful it is that on that cross, the Lord Jesus died so that all could be saved, both Jews and Gentiles!

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10).

Recently some believers were standing on a busy corner in a large city in the U.S.A., holding up signs with Bible verses on them with large print. Many cars passed by that street corner at rush hour, so that many people read those Bible verses. On one of the signs was today’s verse, reminding us that someday everyone will be compelled to bow the knee to the Lord Jesus.

Suddenly the man in one car slammed on his brakes and came to a stop right in front of the believer holding up that sign. He rolled down his window and shouted, “Never! Never!” Then he rolled up his window and went on his way.

Sadly, this is the defiant response to God’s claims by many in this world. They do not want to come to the Lord Jesus and be saved, and they think that they can defy Him. But someday they will be compelled to bow the knee and confess that He is Lord. How much better it is to come to Him now, and own Him as Lord in the time of His grace!

“Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips” (Proverbs 27:2).

We live in a time when it is rather common for people to praise themselves. Employers are aware that those who write their own resumes, hoping to be hired, often greatly exaggerate their own abilities and talents. This tendency has been recognized in worldly circles for a long time, and has even been given a name—the Dunning-Kruger effect. This refers to people with limited knowledge or competence in a certain area who greatly overestimate their own understanding and ability in that area.

The Word of God wisely tells us not to praise ourselves, but rather to let someone else do it. This does not mean that we should avoid saying on a resume that we have training in a particular area, but we must be careful not to compliment ourselves. Let others do that, for they will be much more honest than we will.

“But love ye your enemies, and do good…and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35).

It is not easy to love those who do not treat us well, nor is it easy to be kind to those who are not thankful, and who are “bad people.” We tend to be attracted to “nice” people—people who are easy to get along with, and whose company we enjoy.

However, when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, then we have a divine life—the life of Christ. That life is capable of divine love—a love that goes on loving, even if the object of that love does not respond in the right way. That is what the Lord Jesus did when He came into this world. The world rejected Him, and His own nation condemned Him to die. But the Lord’s love for us took Him all the way to Calvary’s cross, where He died for those who hated Him. We are called to show the same love to others.

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Yesterday I talked about two deer who were very watchful as they ate acorns in our backyard. After a few minutes, my wife ventured to open the door to our deck just a crack, and in a moment the deer bounded away into the woods. They ran away from us, thinking that danger could be near.

We also need to be on guard for the devil, but the Lord’s instruction is to resist him. How do we do this? It is by following the Word of God. If we do this, we will not have to flee from the devil; rather, he will flee from us, for he knows that he is a defeated enemy. The Lord Jesus defeated him at the cross, and if we meet him in the power of God’s Word, and in the name of the Lord Jesus, he will flee. We should certainly respect Satan and his power, for he is stronger than we are. However, if we resist him with the power of the Lord Jesus and God’s Word, he cannot stand up to that. He will flee from us.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

When we first got up this morning, we observed a couple of deer in our backyard—a doe and her half-grown fawn. They were eating acorns, as we live in the country, and our large oak tree produced an abundance of them this year. I could not help but notice how wary and watchful they were. About every thirty seconds they would lift their heads, cock their ears, and also sniff the air. They well knew that danger could be near. We do not, of course, have lions here in North America, but predators such as wolves and coyotes are around, and the deer are on guard, watching for them.

This is the way we should be as Christians, for we live in a hostile world. We may not be in danger of being attacked physically, but Satan is like a roaring lion, watching for an opportunity to discourage us, or to tempt us to sin. We need to be on guard for this, and be ready to resist right away.

“Now when He [the Lord Jesus] had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him…at Thy word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:4-5).

If you read the account of what happened here, you will find that the Lord Jesus was going to repay Simon Peter for the loan of his boat. Notice carefully what the Lord Jesus said; He said, “Let down your nets.” But Peter trusted his own expertise as a fisherman more than he trusted the Lord, and since they had already fished all night and caught nothing, he let down only one net. As a result, the net was so full of fishes that it broke.

However, Peter learned something through this experience. He learned who the Lord really was, and that He had absolute power over His creation. Peter learned to trust the Lord, and we need to learn this too. Sometimes we trust our own wisdom instead of realizing what the Lord can do, but He is always worthy of our trust. If He wants us to do something, we should always obey, for He not only loves us, but is all powerful too.