Job 7:1-2

1 'Is not man forced to labor on earth, And are not his days like the days of a hired man? 2 'As a slave who pants for the shade, And as a hired man who eagerly waits for his wages, NASB

As this chapter begins, Job will moan about his miserable existence. He doesn't expect anything other than doom, with no alleviation. Then in verse eleven Job will have another outburst claiming his right to complain. He will take up his protest with God in verse twelve, and then he will collect his emotions and confess his brief sin of disgruntlement in verse twenty.

Job begins his moaning with the limits that are placed on humanity in general. Why are we here anyway?

Isn't man appointed a time specific on this earth? Isn't man's life predetermined by God? Isn't man cast into history with some job specific expected by God, and then when that work is completed, he is removed?

And the answer to each of these, in general, is yes. But remember that man has volition. And with that volition man can choose between the plan which God has laid out for him, or the plan which man can secure for himself from the world.

When you are born, only two things are certain for your life. The first is that God has given you life. Obviously, you were born. And the second certain thing, is that you will leave this world for an afterlife of some type.

Your after-life choices are only two, heaven or hell. There is no third choice. No Allah, no oneness with nature, no virgins and cigars and smoke filled taverns.

So, with life given, now that you have been born, you have potentials set before you. You can accomplish those potentials within the time frame which God has given you on this earth. Just as the hairs on you are numbered, so too the days of your life are numbered.

At physical birth, you received gifts of some type. These talents or gifts, or abilities are gifts for your physical function in this life. You may be able to sing, or dance, or act, or change diapers, or invent things, or dig ditches. Whatever your gift, it is there to help you earn a living.

Your first potential in life is to discover your gift, or gifts, and then use them in your life. Simultaneously, as you initially grow up in life, you will become aware of God, or the concept of a deity. That is the first major check point in your life.

You will either be positive toward God and want to know more, or you won't. With positive volition, God will provide the gospel for you. That will bring up your second major opportunity in life, to believe in Christ or not.

If you are positive and believe in Christ, then you will receive additional gifts. This time the gifts are spiritual gifts. These are gifts from your spiritual birth, just as you received gifts from your physical birth.

These gifts may be enhancements of what you already have, or something entirely different. Regardless of what they are, you will not discover them until you grow up spiritually. Just as a new born infant cannot know his talents, so too a newly reborn believer may not know the nature of his spiritual gifts until he has some growth under his belt.

Once you have believed in Christ, then you are immediately presented with yet another potential, spiritual growth. You may study the Bible or you may not.

If you are positive toward Bible doctrine and study daily as God has designed the spiritual growth process for humanity, then you will advance to spiritual maturity. Of course you can always fall by the wayside and not achieve spiritual maturity. In this potential, your decisions are daily and will repeat themselves everyday of your life. You will either pursue your spiritual life or you won't.

As you advance in your spiritual life toward maturity, then Gods plan for your life begins to function as it was intended to. Your spiritual gifts are utilized, and God uses you in accordance with His plan for your life.

Every believer has an objective, a task, a mission in life. And that objective is first to be saved, second to advance to spiritual maturity, and third let God drive His plan for your life.

God used prepared believers.

This is mans divine appointment on the earth. You will either recognize it and give yourself over to Gods plan, or you won't.

In either case, you have a set amount of time, from birth to death, to establish the pattern of thinking that you choose for yourself, that will establish which of the above choices you will or have made for yourself.

You are a hireling, a worker, hired labor, and God is the Boss. God has given you a job and you will either do it or you won't.

And so Job goes on to give the hope of the worker. To get to the end of the day, to get to the end of the job. Life in this world is difficult, it is a burden. That is a concept, which we have studied in great detail before.

Life in this devils world is a ball and chain, a heavy ball and chain, tied around your neck. And you are to carry it, all of the burdens of life, with you throughout your life. Relief, real relief, does not come until God removes you from this world.

So, any normal worker, as described in Job's time, works from morning until dusk. The hours are long and the work is hard. Hoping for the blessings that come with nightfall is normal.

Likewise, when the job is completed, and the worker is no longer needed, then the Boss, sends the worker home. The worker receives his bonus and goes home for a long well deserved rest. That too, a retirement of sorts, is looked forward to with great anticipation.

Our life in this world is a difficult life. The blessings that we receive along the way are received with great appreciation, and the end of the trail is also looked forward to with great anticipation.

But unlike the workers of this world, who can quite anytime they want, our task is not completed until God says it is. Jesus Christ controls history. In life we have blessings to look forward to now while on this earth, and then heaven to look forward to when God calls us home.

Previous Page

Table of Contents

Donation

Next Page

Now is the time to post a prayer.