Image source: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/astro/hst_ngc4414_9925.jpg
Taking a look at Job 1:6-12 this morning.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
In this case, "sons of God" is more literal and is translated "angels" in the NIV which is an example of when translation merges with interpretation. The text I'm using in this blog post is NKJV. FYI, I vary the translation I use on this blog just to change things up now and then and not for any particular scholastic reason as I'm not a Bible scholar!
Satan is Hebrew for "adversary" or "accuser." Often Bible names describe the character of the person.
Thus, we have a picture of a realm we don't see with our waking eyes. Angels (probably a mixture of good ones and bad ones?) and Satan, another finite being, in a sense "report" to God in this story.
And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?”
So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
How do you feel about that?
God and Satan are looking at the earth at us running around upon it?
It is easy to think of our lives as insignificant.
I often wonder, who cares what I do?
I'm just one person in the USA which has 301,398,170 people in a world of 6,582,830,048 as I write this Saturday morning in 8:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time according to the US Census Population Clock.
Then place our planet earth as part of a solar system whipping around a galaxy with 100,000,000,000 stars.
Of course, our Milky Way galaxy is but one galaxy in a universe with perhaps 200,000,000,000 galaxies though only 100,000 have been cataloged.
Science has shown us how immense the universe is.
If there is no God who is capable of knowing us, then indeed, our lives are insignificant in the grand scale. Of course, our lives are of existential importance to us and to the handful of people who know us but beyond that, our lives mean nothing. We are here today and gone tomorrow. A small number might leave a legacy to be remembered by succeeding generations. And an extremely small number will leave a mark in the history books.
But if there is a God who is capable of knowing us and actually cares about what we are doing ... then there is great comfort, my suffering doesn't go unnoticed and my faithfulness has eternal significance.
Lord, please forgive me when I don't care about what is right and wrong. I live my life as if it doesn't matter as if you aren't there. The story of Job tells me that one man's situation is of significance to you. By application, then my life means something to You. Help me to be faithful and do what is good, true and beautiful even if the world thinks we should simply, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Give me a greater vision for what is happening in this world beyond what meets my waking eyes. Amen.
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