Reading

• Job 11:1-14:22

Devotional

Job’s third friend, Zophar, finally gets his turn to speak. He accuses Job of lying to hide the sin he must have been guilty of for GOD to have brought such suffering upon him. Obviously the prevalent thinking of the day—or at least among Job’s three friends—must have been that only the wicked would suffer. Job is quite irritated at his three friends’ lack of trust in his character that he would tell the truth. Job tells them that he already knows all the truths they are attempting to teach him and he once again reassures them he is not guilty of sin. In his response to Zophar, Job makes some key observations about life and the resurrection.

¹ “Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble. ² He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
(Job 14:1-2 NKJV)

In other words, life is very short and you only get one chance to live. Job continues:

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. ⁸ Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, ⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. ¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. ¹¹ As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, ¹² so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
(Job 14:7-12 NIV)

But death is not the ultimate end of man. There is a resurrection afterward. To GOD, Job says:

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! ¹⁴ If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. ¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. ¹⁶ Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. ¹⁷ My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
(Job 14:13-17 NIV)

Let’s observe three important life lessons from this text:

1. Because life is short, what we choose to do every day is important. After all, we don’t get too many days to waste.
2. With only one opportunity to live, we need to think seriously about the choices we make. Each decision has a set of consequences and those a series of decisions sets us on a path that, before we know it, is at its end. Consider carefully your choices.
3. For the righteous, the thought of death is a lot less scary than for the wicked. The child of GOD can trust in their Mediator, Jesus Christ, to save them from punishment and to raise them to live forever with GOD. However, for the wicked, when this life is over the “fun” ends. Then they are faced with an eternity of excruciating suffering and torment in hell.