Are they betting on you in heaven?
Pastor Babatunmishe Oke 23.00-0100 am January 19-20, 2008
Job 1 (New International Version)
Prologue
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job’s regular custom.
Job’s First Test
6 One day the angels (sons of God) [a] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan (accuser) [b] also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart. [c]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job was a man with incredible qualities.
Job was such a special individual that two of the most influential personalities in the world noticed him. God already knew who he was, because of certain habits Job had developed which made him noticeable. When God asked satan about Job, satan had an immediate answer because Job had also not gone unnoticed to him.
But what made them both notice one man in particular out of the millions of people that must have been living on the earth at that time.
To answer that question we need to go back to Job 1.
‘This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.’ New Living translation says, ‘He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.’
He was a man of complete integrity. Integrity is defined as the ability to be consistent in a positive way especially morally, no matter the circumstances either one is being supervised or monitored or not.
So the man had integrity.
Also he feared God. A man who fears God has certain qualities. Proverbs says ‘the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’(proverbs 9:10). So he must have been wise. The fear of God is also called Holiness. That is a state of reverence to God. Someone who fears God’s laws, keeps his statutes, spends time in prayer and worship of Him, and is concerned about what He will say in a certain situation. Such a person will have in mind at all times the question, ‘what will God say in this situation’.
He also shunned the devil. Some thing or somebody you shun must initially have approached you for something. He/she might have enticed you or tried to convince you to do something. So the devil must have tried brother Job severally in the past without any success. Job must have practised the saying that ‘flee from every appearance of evil (1 Thess 5:22)’, or ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7b)’
As a result of his faithfulness to God he was a man blessed mightily by God. We are told he was a very rich man, who also had plenty of children. These things didn’t deter him from his reverence to his God. Many of us immediately we serve God and He blesses us, we immediately stop our obedience to Him.
The pastor or ministers of God he used to bless us or raise us can’t talk to us again. After all we buy them shirts and give them money when they are broke. When they say something that chastises us and tries to correct our behaviour or character from the pulpit, even when they don’t point at us, we get upset. Some even leave the church.
Also, once we are rich or comfortable, we can’t control or intercede for our children again. But Job wasn’t like that. He made sure that His children were not far from purity in God, and by extension, he never allowed anyone around him to live outside a state of Holiness before God.
The last outstanding quality Job demonstrated in Job 1, was the quality of longsuffering and steadfastness to God even in the face of sudden and real affliction. He went on his knees and worshipped and praised his God. How many of us have cursed ourselves and even God when we face adversity? It is finished. It is all over. I am ruined etc. Why speak the negative into your own life?
What will you do when failure or disappointment comes? Bible says, ‘many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them from ALL!’
What will it take you to allow God to beat his chest and point you out amongst all the inhabitants of this world and say to even the devil, ‘Have you considered my servant?’
Will the devil have a bonafide case against you, so strong that on the day of judgement, God’s hands will be tied He will just have to let you join satan’s Boeing 747 to hell?
Even the devil was forced to acknowledge Job’s upstanding Christian virtues and relationship with God. The bible says ‘the angels of God encamp around those that fear Him’. Do you fear God?
The devil however made a mistake that shows his own mode of operation when he asked God, ‘does Job fear God for nothing’. The devil can not give you anything without taking his pound of flesh, i.e there is no free lunch with the devil. Job was practising a life of just loving God, and that was why God was blessing him, not the other way round. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt 6.33) We must learn to serve God and others just because we love them, not because of what we will gain.
Don’t give God an offering for the church building or for the crusade because you want Him to bless you. Don’t give Him worship because you want Him to heal you. Give Him because you love Him and He will bless and Heal you.
Can a bet in heaven be made concerning you, and more importantly will God win the bet? The bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is never too late to retrace one’s steps and get into a ‘Jobic’ state with God. It is just a decision. For those who haven’t taken a decision to join with Jesus, there is no way God will win that final bet with you. Something has to happen first. You need to choose Him, Acknowledge Him and then start a daily hourly, minute by minute walk with Him.
I am not talking about faking it so that the pastor or your friends or family members who are working out their own salvation too will think you are holy or pious. I am talking about making a lifelong commitment like Job. If you have done it before and the circumstances of life are making you to slip then you have to rededicate yourself quickly. Then the devil will have to move back. Even then he will keep coming back time and again, but he won’t be able to succeed with you.
