Monday after Jubilate Sunday
Posted on April 22, 2024 by under
Scripture: Job 38:1-11 (NKJV)
38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 “Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 “To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb;
9 “When I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band;
10 “When I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors;
11 “When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!’”
Devotion
The Law has three uses: 1) it indicates punishment for wickedness, 2) it reveals sin, and 3) it teaches. We call these the “curb”, the “mirror”, and the “guide”. The last use, or the Law as “guide”, especially applies to Christians because, even after being renewed in Baptism, the sinful flesh remains, and Christians require teaching and discipline to live as God demands. Job is a believer, but he has spoken presumptuously before God and requires correction. In the moment, Job is rightly terrified, but when the correction is over God blesses him more abundantly than before.
Paradoxically, Christians should be comforted by the third use of the Law because, as the book of Hebrews teaches, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons” (Heb. 12:7). God wants what is best for His children. He is, therefore, unwilling to let them remain in error and sin. Like with Job, God would much rather give blessing than chastisement. He gives each in His own timing. Chiefly, God corrects Christians through public preaching. Every sermon contains both the Law and the Gospel. The Law chastises and teaches; the Gospel promises the great blessing of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Christ.
Collect: Almighty God, Who showest to them that be in error the light of Thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
