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 |
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1 Nov 11
Good evening, special ones.
There sure are a lot of “ones” in the date today—11/1/11. Then consider the fact that we are in Job 11 today. It’s been a number 1 day! And it’s almost shot. Lots of interruptions along its course. Even though I basically had this done this morning, I’m only now getting to send it. The place has been a bee hive with two little boys here. Little Nicholas went to bed almost two hours ago. Kaden just went to bed after I had him me do up a little batch of applesauce. I let him crank the cool apple peeler-corer tool. He also had a small bowl of the fresh applesauce with some whipped cream on top. Good stuff.
I keep trying to be brief with my commentary…but keep getting carried away. Oh well…
Good night. Sleep well.
Love, Dad/Ray
1 November 2011
Job 11
Focus: “Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.” Job 11:5-6.
Enter Zophar. I sure can’t say, “Zophar so good!” In fact, quite honestly, I’d rather go home and watch Sesame Street than go hear him preach again. But as I leaf through the pages of Job, it looks like I’m in for another round of his oration—chapter 20. Oh well—I’ll try to be nice—I know he means well.
Or does he? I have a little wonder that there might be some contamination in his own craw that flavors his speech. Is it possible that Zophar kind of enjoyed seeing Job crash? Is it possible that Zophar harbored some secret envy against Job from back when he was acclaimed as “the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:3)? Is it possible that Zophar looked upon Job’s fall as an opportunity to rise?—a chance to fill that vacant spot as the GREATEST? Hey—don’t look at me so pious as though you have never had aspirations of being lifted up among men. After all, Jesus’ own disciples had some corrupting problems with that quest. They even argued about it. That’s right—argued—debated—maybe even got red in the face over it. “An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all — he is the greatest’” (Luke 9:46-48). Wow! Are you paying attention?
Do you feel the tension and confusion of this situation surrounding Job? I sure do—and I’ve spent a lot of emotional energy going nuts over why it has to be this way. To this day, even within the Christian community, we have people addressing the same issues, all embracing the same God, all claiming the same source of Biblical authority, all making the same assertions that their spin is more righteous that the other guy’s spin, and getting red in the face about it. Judgment Day is definitely going to be interesting.
I need to set forth a couple of general standards or check points for me personally—maybe three—well, maybe four. I guess if I thought real hard I might come up with a bunch—and contribute to my own confusion. So let’s settle for four. (1) This unavoidable reality of conflict underscores the importance of answering WHO AM I GOING TO BELIEVE? If I try to grapple with and grasp every package of ideology that comes along, I would force myself to be a perpetual psychological basket case. Some basic determinations have to be made for the preservation of some sound mindedness. (2) God not only knows about all this controversy stuff, not only allows it, I have to reason that He even intends it. I think He deems it as a necessary tension and struggle toward becoming strong and mature—in the same way the baby chick needs the struggle of breaking out of the egg, and the butterfly from the cocoon. Trying to help them by omitting that struggle is to damage them and militate against their survival. And it doesn’t matter how compassionate and well-intended my help may be. (3) It’s very important for me to prioritize MAJORING IN THE MAJORS AND MINORING IN THE MINORS. I don’t want to give in to shouting where God only whispers—or whispering where God shouts. But even that is controversial. Here’s my basic understanding of the MAJORS—to SEEK GOD, BELIEVE GOD, TRUST GOD, and LOVE GOD. (4) I also need to anticipate controversy. Rather than getting all worked up and worried about being right in the eyes of others and being accepted, I need to get real—knowing that even as I acknowledge Him in all my ways, and experience His directing my paths, those paths will still be subjected to controversy. I need to get used to it.
I don’t mean to be unkind to Zophar, but it’s pretty easy to criticize his burst of words. In the quote I used at the beginning, he is essentially saying, “If only God would speak from heaven and straighten you out, Job! He would definitely support my view and inform you of the two great secret pillars of wisdom. They are so great and secret that I don’t even know what they are!” At least I don’t see them indicated in his speech. Then he proceeds to dogmatically say, “Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.” What? What have you been drinking, Zophar? How does that relate? What do you know about Job’s sin? And how do you know so much about what God forgets? The warning of Paul to Timothy jumps into my head—“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (1 Timothy 1:7).
“Too often a word to the wise is just enough to start an argument.”