Life Is Short--Be Planted and Flourish---Day 219 Through The Bible

                                  Wild berries such as dewberries and blackberries are beginning to ripen 
                                                          in the Celo community and surrounding areas of WNC.
                            

Job chapter 7, continues with Job's response to his "friend", Eliphaz.  He compares man’s days on earth in with these analogies: “like a servant who earnestly desires the shade” and “like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages” (v. 2).  He likens our lives to wearisome nights that will seemingly never end.  He describes our passage of time on earth as days going by faster than a weaver’s shuttle (v.6).  He characterizes his condition as being without hope and he is unable to envision a good day in his life ever again.  He bemoans the fact that once he goes to his grave he will never return to his home—the place that was his will never again hear the sound of his footsteps nor will his voice ever resound there again. (Two of the saddest times in my life were when the bodies of my parents (on separate occasions) made their final journey in a hearse on the familiar roads they had so often traveled.)

Job declares that he will express his anguish and that he will reveal the bitterness of his soul.  (We can come to God and tell Him how we really feel and let Him know what is really bothering us--we can pour out our hearts to Him honestly and without fear of embarrassment or retribution.) When Job tries to sleep, he says he has vivid dreams and terrifying visions. Job asks God (the “watcher of men”) what he has done to Him and why God has targeted him.  In chapter 8, Bildad adds his appraisal of Job’s situation and speculates that Job's sons died because of their sins.  Dr. Stanley cautions that “we usually don’t know the reason behind someone’s misfortune—and to speculate like this is a sin”. We would do well to remember that there is something we are not aware of in every situation.

Psalm 92:8-15
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright”.  It is encouraging to know that we can continue to produce fruit that God can use, even in our old age. We can flourish and continue to glorify the Lord.  I remember caring for an elderly lady in the hospital years ago who was a joy to be around.  She kept her Bible beside her on her bed and met staff and visitors with a smile as they entered her room.  This was more than 30 years ago, yet I have never forgotten this woman. Her speech was gentle, she was pleasant to be around, and it was refreshing to come into her room. Her life glorified God and she was evidently "flourishing in His courts"!

Proverbs 22:17-21
“Have I not written to you excellent things of counsel and knowledge” (Prov. 22:20)?  These are the beautiful words of Solomon written to his son.  The things of God are indeed excellent and this is an opportune time to pause in the reading of Proverbs and dwell upon the fact that the wisdom of Solomon was a gift from God and reflected God's own wisdom!

Romans 9:1-15
Paul reminds us in Romans 9, that Jacob was chosen over Esau by God before they were born—before they had “done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls”.  "God blesses people with His grace and mercy, not because they deserve it but because it is God's nature to give grace and mercy.  Neither grace nor mercy can be demanded ; they can only be gratefully accepted" (Dr. Charles Stanley--Life Lessons, Romans 9:15).