August 23

Today's Reading

Job: today we meet the second and third of Job's friends who were anything but comforting during Job's pain. (I have heard that Bildad the Shoe-height was the shortest man in the Bible.) Job's cry includes these words: "33 If only there were a mediator between us,
someone who could bring us together." In 1 John (New Testament) we are told that Jesus Christ is the mediator between us and God. What a wonderful answer to our dilemma!

In the last part of Job today, Zophar flew into Job like a buzz saw. He added condemnation to the pain Job was already experiencing. Not unlike people who approach a Christ with cancer and say, "If you had faith, God would heal you." Then the cancer victim feels guilty in addition to the physical ailment.

1 Corinthians: our hope is built on nothing less than the resurrected Christ. Praise God for Him!

Psalms: every pain and every sorrow we experience was experienced by the writers of these words. That's why they are a great way to express our feelings to God.

Proverbs: it is far better to simply speak the truth than to try and bluff your way through life.

What do you think?