“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land” Job 1:10

One thing interesting about the word of God is that irrespective of the number of times you have read or listened to an abstract, reading or listening to it again almost always brings up new details that enrich the first understanding thereof. That is the case for us today around the story of Job, especially the dialog between God and Satan about him. Let’s discover three main truths that stem from it.

1. It is still possible to be upright: Despite excuses the world can offer some Christians for them to justify how far they have been to living by some essential biblical values including being upright, this value is still possible as attested by Job’s case. He was blameless, upright and fearful of God in such an authentic way that God himself did take notice of it. Look at how proud God was when he was talking to Satan about Job: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him (…)”

2. God still protects: Those for whom God’s protection is nothing but mere fables, should find in Satan’s reply to God in verse 10 sufficient reasons to immediately make up their minds “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?” From Satan’s reply, it is easy to imagine all that he had tried against Job but as long as God did not lift the immunity over Job, null and void were Satan’s attempts to bother Job and his family or to affect the slightest of his properties. Do we need any further evidence before believing that God’s protection is real if his worst enemy can acknowledge that?

3. God still blesses: “You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land”, that is Satan’s confession wherein one can easily note how fed up he was. But despite his moans and to quote Prov. 10:22, “the blessing of the Lord brings wealth without painful toil for it.”

My prayers for all are the following: May God grant us the grace to be faithful and blameless for him and may his hedge and blessing be real for us now and throughout 2019