Listening to the Word

Job 31-32; Galatians 5-6 “’I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl…If I have walked with falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit – let God weigh me in honest scales…if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.’” Job 31:1, 5-8 In Job’s final words, we read of his understanding that sin has consequences. We reap what we sow. Lust, deceit, injustice, greed, idolatry, unforgiveness, and concealing sin all have consequences. Job understood that; do we? We misunderstand grace when we believe there are no consequences for confessed sin. The harvest of sin often has to be faced. It is that pain that produces good fruit in our lives as we humble ourselves before God and others. The eternal consequence of sin is death which has been defeated by the sacrifice of Christ. We can be free from the penalty of sin through repentance and forgiv...

Job 28-29; Galatians 1-2   “’…because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him…I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.’” Job 29:12, 14 “’I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!’” Galatians 2:21 How many poor and fatherless widows and orphans do we need to help in order to become righteous in God’s eyes? In Job’s day, that was the only way of proving right standing with God. Most world religions are still focused on this effort of making merit by paying alms (Zakat in Islam), to somehow earn righteousness. In doing so, they set aside the grace of God. However, in Christ, God abolished the efforts of people to earn his favour. He sent his Son, a sinless sacrifice, to pay our sin-debt to God. We receive this gift of grace by faith in Christ. The evidence that we have received this incredible gift of salvation full of grace and love i...

Job 26-27; Mark 15-16   “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” Mark 15:37-39 In those last hours on the cross, Jesus was fulfilling the words of Psalm 22:12, 13, “Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.” The herds of hell surrounded the cross as the sin of the world was poured into Jesus. His final cry, “It is finished,” declared victory over the power of sin and its consequences for the world. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was the final sacrifice for sin, opening access to the presence of God for all who would receive and believe. This was not a religious whimper, it was a loud cry, and with it the curtain was torn open forever. Are we pursuing the presence of our Fath...

Job 25: Mark 13-14   “’Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’” Mark 13:2 These words of Jesus were repeated later at his trial and crucifixion. They were used as proof that he had spoken against the temple. Yet, what he was speaking against was the pride of temple worshippers who found their salvation, identity, and security in a building and system of worship.   Before we pass judgment, don’t we do the same thing with our church buildings, committee structure, worship style, and order, and all the other conventions which give us stability, security, and even identity? The Messiah was in the temple and they ignored him for the sake of the building! Are we doing the same? Jesus promised persecution, betrayal, rejection, and deception, not nice buildings. His warning was that we would be spiritually asleep at his return. What are we paying attention to: our buildings, attendance, budget, ...

Job 23-24; Mark 11-12   “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” Job 23:10-12 The book of Job is about more than suffering. It’s about challenging the notion that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. As Job testified, God tests the righteous like gold is tested or refined. Walking in God’s way and listening to his Word does not exempt us from being tested. Job treasured the words of God’s mouth more than his daily bread. Yet, in the test, God was silent. It wasn’t because Job had sinned; rather, it was because God was receiving glory through Job’s faithfulness and perseverance in the test. How are we responding to the tests that come our way in relationships, finances, health, and even persecution for t...

Psalms 121; Mark 9-10   “Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!’” Mark 9:7 Jesus knew his Father’s love; do we? Even as a boy, Jesus valued his heavenly Father’s Word to him. He knew the security of his Father’s love. It was the Father who called Jesus into public ministry with the public affirmation of these words, “This is my Son, whom I love.” Jesus ministered to others out of this primary relationship with his Father. He taught us to pray, “Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name….” It was this knowledge of our Father that Jesus wanted to pass on to us. These disciples argued about who among them was the greatest, because they did not yet know the love of their Father. We, too, will be motivated by status, approval, popularity, and success until we experience the love of our Father. When the Father, in his love, calls us into ministry, we love others rather than using them for our own needs or...

Job 22; Mark 7-8   “…’You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’…Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.’” Mark 7:9, 10, 13 In what ways do our church traditions or practices set aside the commands of God? We have elevated the teaching ministry of the Word and commoditized it through podcasts and web access so that the ministry of the Body of Christ has been replaced by a single voice. Our covenant- community has been replaced by a privatized religious consumer. Church can be reduced to a sermon. Even Jesus’ example of family is relevant in an age where we ‘warehouse’ the elderly in lonely and forgotten homes. Jesus invites us, as the Church, to listen to the Word and obey. As the Body of Christ, we all function together, using our gifts on his mission, responding to his authority. When we together listen and ...