Wednesday after the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 27, 2023 by under
Scripture: Job 2:1-10 (NKJV)
2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”
Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Devotion
“Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”
Our Lord preached, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:44-45). God gives everyone good things, and He commands us to do faithful good works that show this same love to others, especially our enemies. Adversity, foolishness, and offense do not give us the right to stop obeying our Lord.
Our Lord also tells us that the faithful must endure suffering, especially from the enemy who satanically attacks us without cause. “He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:38). Our Savior endured adversity from His own beloved people. He loved them, He taught them, He helped them even when they failed to understand what He was doing. And they—even more than the godless unbelievers—despised His Words and His work, and they sought to silence Him at any cost. He calls His sons and daughters to endure the same crosses and attacks from Satan. We are to be patient, wise, and hopeful according to His Spirit, His example, and all that He teaches us throughout His Word.
Collect: Lord, we pray Thee, that Thy grace may always go before and follow after us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; 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.
