DAILY MANNA
SATURDAY 2ND MAY, 2020
NO DICHOTOMYTEXT:JOB 21:1-21
KEY VERSE:”Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?…They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave” (JOB 21:7, 13).
Often, in our haste to pass judgment on people who may be going through confounding situations, we jump to wrong conclusions about them. We argue that if they are suffering adversities, then their sins must be great. We believe that God punishes people according to the magnitude of their transgressions. But God is not man; He may in His sovereign will permit evil people to prosper more than believers.
This was the point Job sought to convey to his friend, Zophar, who had concluded that because he was in great distress, his sins must have been so great. He indirectly condemned Job without any evidence that he was a sinner. But in his stout rebuttal, Job reminded him that the wicked do enjoy long life, acquire and exercise mighty power. Their businesses flourish and yield huge profit, their houses are filled with the sound of music, and their days are spent in great wealth.
Spared of instant judgment, they push God aside and "desire not the knowledge of [His] ways." They neither recognise God as sovereign nor are they prepared to serve or pray to Him. While he stressed that "the counsel of the wicked is far from me", he was not oblivious of the fact that eventually, the wicked will experience the wrath of the Almighty.
God is a God of justice. He allows the wicked to access free air just as He allows the righteous. Matthew 5:45 says, "...for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Good things also happen to bad people!
We must be hesitant in passing judgment on others. Not everyone who is going through adversity is suffering the consequence of sin. However, those who are praying for their wrongs done should repent immediately and ask for forgiveness because, one day, God will come hard on sinners with fiery judgment.THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:Sinners who take God’s magnanimity for granted on earth, will face His judgment in eternity.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:JUDGES 1-4
