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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4 Nov 11
Greetings, dear ones.
The daylight is now about all gone. But it’s good to understand that the darkness is not overcoming the light…but darkness simply results from the absence of light. Simple things can be profound things.
Interesting day. Near the end of daylight I did something very rare…I visited my doctor. I’ve been hammered by a sinus infection. I have a prescription for some antibiotics, but I’m hoping the condition is on its way out on its own. We’ll see.
I had Kash on a small building project…and I spent another 4 hours at Camp Adams on their building project running the crane, etc. But we have a technical impasse. Things are not lining up just right. It may call for taking things apart, using the mill to re-saw some bevels, and reassembling. We’ll see there too.
Have a good night.
Love, Dad/Ray
4 November 2011
Job 14
Focus: “If a man dies will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.” Job 14:14.
In the presence of his “friends,” Job has turned to addressing God with the pressure-relief valve of his emotional struggle wide open. His worldview is really quite amazing to me—ranging from a cynical acknowledgment of how futile and fleeting is human existence—all the way to expressing his belief in eternal life—conscious existence following the grave. That’s the amazing part. His cynicism is understandable under the circumstances. His floundering view of life at this point reminds me of a brief quote I remember from Mark Twain who said, “Life is one damned thing after another!” (After looking up that quote, I learn that it was actually authored by Elbert Hubbard who was a contemporary of Mark Twain. I assume Twain quoted him.) That’s not my normal style of expression, but in the absence of the GOD FACTOR and a faith that sees beyond the present, I think that’s a fairly valid and accurate appraisal.
There seems to be a stupid illusion that captures and deceives many humans, especially among the young and healthy—the notion that life will just carry on and on indefinitely. I believe it’s a lot healthier to live life with a view of one’s mortality—the fact that none of us are getting out of here alive! And that’s the reality Job faces and affirms in most of this chapter.
Right in the middle of all that negativism is another burst of faith light—a wonderful statement of hope and confidence of eternal life. I can only assume that the Holy Spirit of God turned up Job’s rheostat of revelation to give him a tiny preview of things to come—blurry though it may be. How else could he be so sure of resurrection life after death in the presence of his Maker? Let me quote verses 13-15. I’ll add a few parenthetical comments. "If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! (Sadly, Job is mistaken that he is under God’s anger. At least he is sure his ordeal of suffering is temporary.) If only you would set me a time and then remember me! (If only we could read Jesus’ words to Job from John 14—"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am”—John 14:1-4.) If a man dies, will he live again? (Yes! Listen to Jesus again—"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”— John 11:25-26.) All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.”
I’m having to hold myself back from getting carried away with this theme. My New Testament reading in John 6 presents Jesus in debate over this very matter of eternal life with his fair-weather-followers-gone-ugly. Check out John 6:25-59.
Did you catch Job’s words at the end of the above quote—“You will call and I will answer you.” In other words Job is essentially singing, “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder I’ll be there!” Job is confident that the LORD will raise him from the grave to new life just as sure as the LORD raised him from dust to life at his beginning.
I suggest that you read 1 Corinthians 15 once again.
“What we weave in time we will wear in eternity.”