Police Devotion 7-25-2017

“And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” (Job 2:4-10)

Satan had already gotten God’s permission one time to bring disasters into Job’s life. Satan thought Job would curse God to His face after all the disasters, but Job did not. So Satan asked God’s permission to touch Job’s health. This passage describes the second meeting where God gave him permission to do so. The devil gave Job a whole-body case of boils. With the loss of his children, plus the pain he was now in, no doubt he was tempted to turn his back on God. Then Mrs. Job came along and she offered no help.

In fairness to Mrs. Job though, she’d been married to him all this time and mothered his ten children. She’d also seen how he loved and served God so faithfully, and she probably had a decent walk with the Lord too. Moreover, when the first round of disasters came, she was struck by them too. Mrs. Job had lost her seven kids too. She’d lost all that property and all those servants too. So it’s probably not like she was just standing by, giving him a hard time. She was probably in a terrible emotional state too, and as most cops know, people can say and do unwise things when they’re in a bad emotional state.

Here’s another important lesson: when you’re going through a tough time on the job, you can be sure your spouse is feeling it too. Police spouses have extra loads to carry that most spouses don’t, so they deserve whatever extra love and consideration you give them.

Anyway, Mrs. Job surely wasn’t trying to be a tool of temptation, but she was. So here’s an important bit of truth: the devil can even use people close to you, whom you love and respect, to tempt you to sin. The temptation to “curse God and die” was probably stronger coming from Mrs. Job then it would have been coming from a stranger. Yet even coming from her, Job didn’t respond to the temptation with sin.

If someone you love says something sharp or unkind, it can be worse than if  a stranger were to say it, but no matter where the temptation is coming from, you don’t need to respond with sinful words. It’s not God’s fault that your loved one is having a bad moment. Don’t we all have them? Christians, and even pastors, can have bad moments. Bible heroes like: Noah, David, Peter, and many others also had bad moments.

If someone in church acts in an un-Christian way, don’t quit church. Christians can say and do wrong things for whatever reason, but that’s not Jesus’ fault. Don’t sin against the Lord because of what others do. Temptation can come from many unexpected sources, so keep your focus on “…Jesus the author and finisher or our faith;” (Hebrews 12:2) He’ll help you when it does.

Do you know for sure you’ll be in heaven when you die? If not, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links”, then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”

Brian Miller 7/25/2017

Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822