Job?

I'm so glad that I read the post about how nice it is to hear the perspective of those of us who are first time readers of the bible. As a first time reader I have to say that I'm really puzzled by Job. This book is broken up across several days and after the first day I was really angry. God and Satan were talking and as God extolled the virtues of Job, Satan had a comment to make, as usual. He entices God to take everything away from Job to test his devotion. I have to tell you that my first thought was of the story of Jesus in the desert and Satan comes to him offering his tempting basket of goodies. Jesus refused on all accounts, yet God gave in on the first go around. Then Job lost it all, even all his kids. Now, I know that God gives it all back and more at the end, but how can more children even begin to replace the ones you've lost? I'm still puzzled by God's actions. I know that we are not meant to understand God's motives and that He knows very well how things will turn out. Perhaps in the Old Testament God needed to be tougher on men in order to awaken their hearts to His message. Perhaps I've missed the whole message from Job myself.

Economic Force.

Ecclesiastes 4.4 is a great piece of scripture. Many times when you begin to look at a sociaty, its economy and the forces that drive those economies, you see the very complex interweaving of life and how we spend our lives, and in this, feelings about consumption, spending, rich, wealth, begin to well up and I found myself in this place recently, and really didn't have good words to express how I felt. Yesterday when I read the passage verse 4 gave words to lips for what I was feeling in my soul.

Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

I read this and I really felt like this is a very under-read piece of Old Testament text. It's a text that has potential to become a subversive counter-culture mantra for anyone tired of the 12 steps to gaining the world idealology of modern culture, or it can be more than that. Actually I hope it is more than that. Because I think, actually I believe that it's a passage of scripture that can bring liberation.

To be honest, I've been working on writing this blog for little bit, and I have re-written it several times, and I think the best I can say beyond what I already have, is let Jesus be the measure and driving force behind your life. Don't feel imprisoned if God has blessed you with a successful career, be greatful and make the most of it, for His purposes. And in that same spirit, realize that success in this life brings us no closer to the heart of God. To get closer to His heart is to climb into His lap and lay your head on His chest, and from that experience let your motivation come forth. Ironically, when we strive to impress others and create illusions of success, that is what they usually are, illusions built in debt.