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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25 Nov 11
Hello, dear people.
Our food spread was terrific. And surrounding the meal and activities I was able to behold a bit of one of those big NFL games…watching the Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins by one point in the last few seconds of the game.
I guess we’re all players in the game of life. But it’s not just a big bunch of fatalism where we don’t have a clue who will win before the end. The wonderful fact is that we can all predetermine our being on the winning side.
Not sure how this day will go…but I’m going to get Max all excited in a few minutes by putting on my running shoes. I’ll do a little jog…and build a plan from there.
Have a good day.
Love, Dad/Ray
25 November 2011
Job 35
Focus: “So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words.” Job 35:16.
Allow me to begin with a quote from James: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).
As I look into the mirror of this particular portion of God’s intentional Word, it is only proper that I consider which of the two characters presently represented best represent a reflection of me—Job or Elihu? Oh, my—I feel another confession coming on. I’ve made reference to this kind of confession before, so maybe it won’t be too painful to do it again. OK—here goes: I have to be very thankful that the Lord has seen fit to not only rescue me from my sinful state—but, in retrospect, after vesting a lot of years as a human person and attempting to function as a representative of the Kingdom of God, I have to be thankful for God’s grace in rescuing me from MYSELF. I now agree more fully with that proverb that goes something like this: “NOTHING HAS CAUSED MORE FAILURE AMONG MEN THAN SUCCESS.” If God had permitted me to be as dynamic, successful, and effective as I had intended and purposed in ministry, marriage, raising kids, and everything else, I’m afraid I would have been a virtual twin brother to Elihu—a dedicated member in good standing with the F.O.J.A.I.O.S CLUB (Friends of Job and Instruments of Satan Club)—using my success as a kind of weapon with which to beat people up. Yup! I cannot avoid the conclusion that Elihu and the other three, while they may have been good upstanding men in many ways, with a lot of good things to say, actually functioned in relationship to Job as the devil’s most effective advocates! Think about it. And beware.
Elihu’s faith and view of God’s character is skewed. Consider this paragraph of thought: “I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you. Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men” (Job 35:4-8).
Let’s review—the glory of the New Testament Gospel is that God’s amazing greatness underscores His amazing grace. (Someone should make a song out of that.) Elihu would have us look up and behold God’s amazing greatness and reckon that, while He has set forth a bunch of rules, He doesn’t give a rip about whether you’re a good boy or bad boy (or girl)! He is emotionless about what you do or what happens to you. That sounds to me more like a recipe for suicide than salvation! And it flies in the face of the famous proclamation of God’s love as in John 3:16—“For God so loved the world…”
Please think about that too—and don’t stop.
“God has promised forgiveness for your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow for your procrastination.”