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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14 Nov 11
Good morning, dear ones.
Kaden is sitting on the floor near me. I set him up to do something dangerous…using scissors to cut up an old magazine. Of course the danger is that it could lead to something other than the magazine. So far so good.
Andy and family came last evening, as did the Wilsons along with nephew Larry, visiting from Alabama. Andy told a bit more of his wild experience this weekend where his own hunting was interrupted by a call to participate in a rescue effort to help a hunter that was shot by another hunter. By the time he and some others reached the scene, it was too late. Sad story.
The day is looming with big objectives…between logging, milling, and sign work. Once again, no room for boredom.
Have a great day…even if it is raining and cold.
Love—Dad/Ray
14 November 2011
Job 24
Focus: “If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?” Job 24:25.
My overview of this portion of Job’s defense leads me to identify his two principle questions—represented by the first verse and the last verse: (1) Why does God take so long to set records straight? “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?” (2) During this time between now and when God sets records straight in final judgment, who in the world can prove me wrong? “If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”
I don’t think it’s wrong to ask WHY questions, even when we know they will not be answered this side of Judgment. It’s the natural out flow of our OBJECTIVE wiring that continually seeks to explore and understand cause and effect. But it’s certainly not very healthy to be so insistent on having those questions answered to our satisfaction within our time frame so as to get angry at the Judge because he appears to be so inactive or indifferent.
In the course of grappling with these difficult WHY questions—why many innocents are exploited and abused, and why many of the guilty abusers are allowed so much unrestrained freedom to do their dirty work—Job touches on the matter of light versus darkness. Some of his expressions are quite in line with Jesus’ words (vv. 13-17). It makes me want to exclaim to Job and others like him, “Hey, just a minute here—although it may appear that The Judge is indifferent or unfair, according to Jesus, a kind of preliminary judgment has already been made. It has to do with God making light and truth available to men who seek. Listen to Jesus’ exclamation to Nicodemas: “This is the verdict (judgment, condemnation): Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:19-21). In the introduction of John’s Gospel he says about Jesus, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:3-5).
Some choose to mock faith and the idea of final judgment with a question like, “How can you be so sure of your ‘pie in the sky by and by?’” Consistent with the principles of logic, it is quite appropriate to counter, “How can you be so sure that there is no such thing as ‘pie in the sky by and by?’—or that there is no final judgment that will condemn you for not seeking that ‘pie in the sky by and by?’” It seems to me that this kind of mocking is both foolish and dangerous—gambling very big stakes against a future unknown.
According to Scripture, final judgment is an absolute. Let me quote from Paul as he speaks rhetorically to those who by choice are more attracted to darkness than to light: “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism” (Rom 2:5-11).
Of course, the same Apostle John who wrote the fourth Gospel also wrote the last book of the Bible—Revelation. His inspired visionary description of final judgment is worth remembering. “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done” (Revelation 20:11-14).
Here’s my final word on final judgment: Just because final judgment is not yet final is no reason to judge that final judgment will not be final. Does that make sense?
“The man who has a good opinion of himself is usually a poor judge.”