«You were called to inherit a blessing» (1 Peter 3:9, GW).
LET’S BEGIN the day reading a couple of Bible verses: «As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it» (Job 4:8, NIV); «Your children must have sinned against Him, so their punishment was well deserved» (Job 4:8 NLT); «If only God would speak; if only he would tell you what he thinks! If only would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom is not a simple matter. God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!» (Job 11:5, 6, NLT). This are some of the claims made by Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, when he was going through a particularly difficult time.
Over the course of almost thirty chapters, these individuals vehemently defended their posture: God was punishing Job for his sins. They reasoned that if Job had been innocent, nothing bad would have happened to him. However, God appears at the end of the book and tells Eliphaz, «l am angry with you and your two friends, for you not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has» (Job 42:7, NLT). The guardians of religious orthodoxy were wrong and Job was the only one who right.
In the next verse, the Lord adds, «My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me» (Job 42:8, NLT). In fact, if we read Job 42:8 we will see that God identifies Job as «my servant» three times.
Job was different! And as God’s servant it was his responsibility to pray for those had treated him cruelly. That prayer would bring about a change in Job’s status, because after having prayed for his detractors, he was delivered from his affliction and God multiplied everything he had had. Praying for his adversaries not only brought about blessings for them, but also ended up being a great blessing to Job.
The patriarch’s experience teaches us that whenever we are tempted to mistreat who have hurt us, we should stop and remember this verse: «Don’t pay people with evil for the evil they do to you, or ridicule those who ridicule you. Instead, bless them, because you were called to inherit a blessing» (1 Peter 3:9, GW). And will be blessed when, like Job, we spend time blessing even those who have misjudged us or have treated us cruelly.
www.meditacionesdiarias.com
https://twitter.com/meditacionesdi1
http://www.instagram.com/meditacionesdiarias7
Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate
