“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “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. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” Job 1:9-11
Dear heavenly Father, this story reminds me of how active the “accuser of the brethren.” Satan is always lying—lying to us about you, and to you about us. He tempts us, seduces us, and then he condemns us. But as insidious, lethal and persistent as his actions are, the question he asked you about Job, is one worthy of our attention. Indeed, why do we love you, Father?
I don’t have any major “whine-able” events going on in my life. There’s nothing right now presenting a challenge to my faith, your promises, or the truth of the gospel. I’ve got good health; more check left over at the end of the month; none of my family members are in crisis. Nothing beyond the normal fallen-ness and brokenness of life is happening around me or within me.
But I don’t presume on any of your kind providence towards me, Father. I don’t take any of your good gifts for granted. It’s only by your grace that I don’t struggle with entitlement as much as I used to. The gospel has convinced me that everything I have comes from you (1 Cor. 4:7).
So as I think today about Job’s story, it’s not with gritted teeth or clenched fists. Why do I love you? What’s my motivation for worshiping you? How will I think about you the next time I suffer loss, betrayal, and pain; or the next time I “blow it,” fail miserably, or act out destructively? That, no doubt, will happen.
I want to love and worship you simply because you are God—profoundly, because you’re the God of all grace—the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. There’s no other god besides you, and there’s certainly no other god like you. I’m grateful for your gifts, but I want to love and worship you, the Giver, as the primary treasure of my heart. May it be so, Father, may it be increasingly so. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ holy and loving name.