Job chapter 42 verse 8 (NIV)
So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”
What strikes me here is how God knows Job’s heart. He tells Job’s friends that Job will pray for them without even having to speak to Job. He knew that Job would do so. Job had acknowledged God’s sovereignty and power, and had accepted that His ways are sometimes beyond our understanding. Even at this point in his life Job acts in total obedience to God without question. He doesn’t yet know of the blessing and restoration that awaits him, but he still does as God directs.
What faith and obedience. What a testimony. I wonder if I could do the same? Job was able to put aside the hurt and the jibes that had been directed at him by his friends and pray for them. God expects the same from us. There is no place for bearing grudges in the heart of any Christian.
Dear Lord,
I pray for the grace and courage to emulate Job’s obedience if You ask me to do as He did. I pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.