Saturday Scripture Speaks #7

"Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?" Job 4:17 (NIV)

I am SO sorry that I didn't get this post up last night as I originally thought I would. I got home rather late last night with a bunch of groceries. I participate in Nielsen's Homescan program so I had to scan all the items into the scanner before putting them away. Then, I had to get my children to bed before doing anything else. I dropped a few entrecards and put up a quick post about the movie, Fireproof, but got little else done other than e-mails.

Today, I spent time doing school with the kids and then researching for some homeschool articles and now I find I neglected this post. Shameful! So, though it's late, here are my thoughts on the above Scripture from Job.

Eliphaz asked Job why he thought he was more righteous than anyone else. He basically told Job that he should receive this "punishment" of losing everything he (Job) had because he was mortal and, therefore, sinful.

While Eliphaz might have had good intentions, he didn't really have it right. Job's circumstances were not a punishment from God but rather a result of Satan's temptation. Satan, you'll recall, went to God and asked permission to tempt Job so that Job would curse God. God allowed Satan to tempt Job in any way he wanted but he could not kill Job.

Satan does that. He tempts us, tests us, tries us. We need to remember that when calamity comes upon us it is not because God is tempting us. God allows us to go through fires but I don't believe He is the one who brings the fire. In the case of Job, He allowed all of the disasters to come into Job's life but He protected, and later rewarded, Job.

Put your faith and trust in God today. No, we are not more righteous than God and we are not more pure than Him. He's God, we're not. God can be trusted because He has it all in control. Nothing passes by Him without Him knowing it and without His control. Satan does nothing that God does not allow him to do. Praise be to God who is able to keep us and will keep us when we give Him our lives.