Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back at the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job is in the middle of some of the greatest trials ever endured by a mortal, he has lost his vast fortune, he has lost his position of authority, he has lost all of his children, he has lost the support of his wife, and he is in the middle of enduring rebuke and false accusations from his friends. To top it all off this had all come in the space of about two weeks from the best we can tell. Now Job opens his mouth and defends himself, telling his friends that he has not gone back on God's commands, in fact he said that he had made God's word the highest priority in his life. Chapter one tells us of his faithfulness in praying and offering sacrifice for his children on a continual basis.
We should learn a lesson from the example that he left for us in how important the word of God should be for us. In a day and age when we are so busy running to work, running to school, running errands, going to our social activities, we have laid aside the truly important things of life. How often do you get so busy that you let an entire twenty-four hours go by without eating? On the contrary when was the last time you let a day go by without reading a passage from the word of God? I know how easy it is to allow a day to slip away without going to God's word to either start it off or finish it out, but simply because it is common place or easy to do is not an excuse. It is not just the place of the preacher to be studying, it is the place of every christian. How many of us could honestly say that we have not gone back from the commandments of God? I know I'm still a work in progress. How many of us could say we miss meals more often than we miss our time alone with God? If you can, I commend you and encourage you to stay the course, but all too often we allow ourselves to be convinced that there are more important things than our walk with God.
Deut. 8:3 tells us " that He might make thee to know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." (Jesus quotes this passage in Matt. 4:4) Yet there is little to no practical application or even recognition of this among those of us that call ourselves christians. Bible reading and prayer time is one of the luxuries we allow ourselves if we have time, instead of being the most important thing in our life that causes us to change our schedule to accommodate. I would challenge you to take God's words and commandments more seriously, to make a habit of making sure you have fed your soul before you ever feed your body. We find a way to squeeze food into our busy schedules, if it were really important we could find a way to read the bible. Prioritize your life, if you honestly cannot read you bible daily because of you schedule then quit something. I am not over-simplifying, I am not preaching anything I don't practice, there have been many occasions where I have quit a job or social club membership because it was cutting into my time with God. It is not an impossibility, it just takes some determination and dedication. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Job is in the middle of some of the greatest trials ever endured by a mortal, he has lost his vast fortune, he has lost his position of authority, he has lost all of his children, he has lost the support of his wife, and he is in the middle of enduring rebuke and false accusations from his friends. To top it all off this had all come in the space of about two weeks from the best we can tell. Now Job opens his mouth and defends himself, telling his friends that he has not gone back on God's commands, in fact he said that he had made God's word the highest priority in his life. Chapter one tells us of his faithfulness in praying and offering sacrifice for his children on a continual basis.
We should learn a lesson from the example that he left for us in how important the word of God should be for us. In a day and age when we are so busy running to work, running to school, running errands, going to our social activities, we have laid aside the truly important things of life. How often do you get so busy that you let an entire twenty-four hours go by without eating? On the contrary when was the last time you let a day go by without reading a passage from the word of God? I know how easy it is to allow a day to slip away without going to God's word to either start it off or finish it out, but simply because it is common place or easy to do is not an excuse. It is not just the place of the preacher to be studying, it is the place of every christian. How many of us could honestly say that we have not gone back from the commandments of God? I know I'm still a work in progress. How many of us could say we miss meals more often than we miss our time alone with God? If you can, I commend you and encourage you to stay the course, but all too often we allow ourselves to be convinced that there are more important things than our walk with God.
Deut. 8:3 tells us " that He might make thee to know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." (Jesus quotes this passage in Matt. 4:4) Yet there is little to no practical application or even recognition of this among those of us that call ourselves christians. Bible reading and prayer time is one of the luxuries we allow ourselves if we have time, instead of being the most important thing in our life that causes us to change our schedule to accommodate. I would challenge you to take God's words and commandments more seriously, to make a habit of making sure you have fed your soul before you ever feed your body. We find a way to squeeze food into our busy schedules, if it were really important we could find a way to read the bible. Prioritize your life, if you honestly cannot read you bible daily because of you schedule then quit something. I am not over-simplifying, I am not preaching anything I don't practice, there have been many occasions where I have quit a job or social club membership because it was cutting into my time with God. It is not an impossibility, it just takes some determination and dedication. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
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