Worship Beacuse He is Worthy to be Worshiped

This past week I read through Job, as part of my Old Testament history class assignment. Then yesterday, during the class discussion, we talked about the main point of the book. Often the response is "why does God lets bad things happen to good people?" But this, as my teacher suggested, is not the focus and should instead be asked, "why do righteous people worship God?" In verse nine of chapter one Satan asks God, "does Job fear God for nothing?" This suggests that because Job has everything that he sill continue to reverence God, but as soon as the comforts around him are taken away, Job will turn from his pious mien and curse God. God then gives him the power to do anything to Job, except killing him. For most of the rest of the book Satan tempts Job to curse God by taking away everything he had (he was "the greatest of all the people of the east"), sending four of his friends and his wife with words of discouragement, and all kinds of sicknesses. Through it all, Job remained steadfast in his faith and did not once utter a word against God.

This testifies to Job's character being the blameless, upright, and God-fearing man that he is. He does not worship God beacuse God had given him riches, family, and health but rather simply beacuse He is worthy of worship. It should not be about what God has done for us, as the book of Job so aptly points out, but all that we do should be to the glory of God.

Then this morning as I was reading a devotional, I found this passage, which immeadiately brought to mind the trials of God's faithful servant, Job:

"The time of testing marks and mightily enriches a soul's spiritual career is no ordinary one, but a period when all hell seems set loose, a period when we realize that our souls are brought into a net, when we know that God is permitting us to be in the Devil's hand. But is is a period which always ends in certain triumph for those who have committed the keeping of their souls to Him, a period of marvelous abundant usefulness that surely follows." Aphra White

It is a good reminder to me, that all God's people will go through hard times, but they will come out of it better people. Just like the clay of the potter must be molded, shaped, and then undergo the tremendous heat of the furnace, so must we endure and persevere through the hardships of life.