Have you ever done a real in-depth study on the book of Job? If you have then you know very well that this is one of the hardest books of the bible to read, even over Revelation. My professor explained it as squeezing a fish. The tighter you hold a fish, the faster is slips right out of your hand.
The truth in this book that we are to question is does disinterested religion exist? That means, do we only worship God because there is a reward for it in the end? Do we only do good things and act selfless because we know we will one day be rewarded for it? At first, most would say no to this question. Right? You want to think right now that you worship God, endure hardship, forgive others, and are kind when you don't want to be because we get some kind of reward for it, even though it may be way down the road. But the truth is, everyone really does do all these things because of the reward. Not because we love God. Not really.
There is a lot that I have learned about Job this past week that I never knew. Yes, at first Job still praises God after he loses every material thing he has. "You give and take away, but blessed be your name." But once Job'’s health was taken from him, did you know this is not the least bit of how he acted? During Job's time, conventional wisdom was only what people thought to be true. The good prosper, and the sinful suffer. So, if you were poor, sick, or locked up, it was because you have sinned against Yahweh. So Job's eyed were opened when he learned that this was maybe not the case. Job was not being punished for sins because he was blameless, for God declared that there is no one as upright as Job. Job learns for the first time, as well as his friends, that even the good and righteous suffer. Job questions and challenges God in very forceful, but honest way, but he never does curse God. Though he comes close to it by cursing the day he was born. But through all of this, Job wants to die. He can'’t understand why he is suffering because he did all these right things, with the right heart. Yahweh is not answering him and certainly not blessing him at this time. Job is upset that he is not being blessed for his righteousness. But he has hope that God will bring justice and things will end. So Job endures the hardship because of the prize at the end?
If you think about it, it's almost impossible to worship God without that voice in the back of your mind reminding you that you are going to be rewarded. "Hold on a little longer, this suffering will end and everything will turn out alright"” or "Man, God is so going to reward you for not taking revenge when you had the perfect opportunity." Is it really impossible to not look at the end? Yes, there are many times when we can do the right thing not because of the reward we know we will get, but you still know there is one in store.
I want to love and worship my Lord in sickness and in health, in death and life. I want to be his servant because he is YAHWEH. The good feeling of joy and heavenly riches we will gain should never be my focus. It"s hard to gain this mindset, but I don'’t want my faith to be disinterested religion.
