Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Sparre Home Page | Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29 Oct 11
Good morning, fellow travelers.
I guess I reason that we’re all going somewhere…life is not static…thus we are travelers.
I don’t know exactly where I’m going today. Hmm…since I don’t have any big commitments that involve other people, except for getting a winch installed on my ATV so my brother-in-law, Ray Wilson, can use it to go elk hunting, I might even propose a morning round of golf with him before we get to the winch. How does that sound? I haven’t done golf for about a year or so. If I do go, I’ll make sure that I don’t allow my score to edit my statement of self worth.
Be blessed today…as you seek the Real Source of real blessing.
Love, Dad/Ray
29 October 2011
Job 8
Focus: “Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: ‘How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.’” Job 8:1-2.
I was asked by someone long ago, “Who was the shortest man in the Bible?” I answered, “If it’s not Zacchaeus, you’ll have to tell me.” They said, “It was Bildad the Shoe-Height.” Sure enough—he had to be. Well, you understand, of course, we’re playing with words. But it’s kind of true—Bildad’s dogmatic grasp of the truth as it related to Job was not much higher. And talk about “blustering wind”—that really is a pretty good description of his blast. Have you ever been the recipient of a blast of hot air from someone who is charging you with being a blower of hot air when you are simply doing your utmost to relate the truth?
I rose this morning unnecessarily concerned. We have one of those satellite-controlled “atomic clocks” in our bedroom that projects the precise time on the ceiling in red characters. I trusted it as it is claimed to be about the most accurate time piece available. I could hardly believe I was sleeping in that late—6:45. Had I paid closer attention, I would have recognized that something was out of whack. I caught the discrepancy when I glanced at one of our other clocks after being up a while. It said 5:45am. What? I went back to check the bedroom ceiling and sure enough—it said 7:15pm. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know something is goofed up somewhere. And relying on that miss-information could cause some REAL trouble.
A simple little illustration I’ve used over the years seems to be applicable here—the buttoning of a shirt. We’ve all experienced the problem resulting from getting the first button in the wrong hole—forcing the rest of the shirt to be buttoned wrongly. And there is no way to correct it—unless you go back, start over by getting the right first button in the right hole, and the rest comes out right. Start right—end right. Start wrong—everything else is goofed up.
Bildad is absolutely dogmatic about his beginning point (that calamity is always the result of God’s angry punishment, and health and prosperity are always the result of His pleasure)—the result is a scathing hurtful diagnosis of Job and his situation. “Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?” (v. 3). It’s another way of saying something like, “Don’t you get it, Job? God doesn’t punish people unjustly! And your situation proves beyond question that you are receiving from God what your unconfessed sins deserve!” And with stupid arrogance, he proceeds to run a dagger through Job’s heart—“When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin” (v. 4). Ouch! OK, I guess I can accept that Bildad means well—but he’s really nothing short of a well-intentioned dummy. And a well-intentioned ignoramus can sure cause a lot of trouble.
I find no conflict with truth in the last three verses of Bildad’s spin. In fact his words are Biblically sound over time and could even be taken as prophetic. "Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more" (Job 8:20-22).
Sorry, Mr. Bildad, but you’d better get ready for some egg on your face. We know where this drama is going.
“Truth gets well if she is run over by a locomotive, while error dies of lockjaw if she scratches her finger.” - William Cullen Bryant