When Satan brought accusations against Job, he tried to convince God that this righteous man only served him for ulterior motives. It was Satan’s contention that if God had not been protecting him and blessing him, Job would not be as diligent or faithful in his service to the Almighty. We know that this was not true for Job because Satan was permitted to harass and tortured Job to a great extent. Yet his faithfulness remained steadfast no matter what trials Satan brought upon this man.
The consequence of Satan bringing much trouble on Job only justified God’s confidence in him. He serve God out of loyalty, appreciation, and worship. There are several truths that we can glean from this first chapter.
The blessings that exist in a person’s life is not directly tied to his loyalty. The opposite of this first truth was the basis of Satan’s argument. God blesses to whatever degree to whatever person he chooses. To say anything different is to accuse a human with bribery and acceptance of bribery by God.
Earlier in the chapter God displayed his pleasure in Job. Have you ever thought that you would like to live your life in such a way that would make God proud of you? The Lord sees and knows everything we do including our thoughts. Our goals would be to grow in such a mature spiritual manner that God would be proud of us. What a challenge and opportunity this is!
Conversely, there are people who associate themselves with church, with Christianity for selfish reasons. In such a protective environment people can be vulnerable to someone present in the congregation who lacks scruples. It can make good business for a person to interact with wrong motives such as financial gain from a vulnerable church member.
Such a person as described herein could view himself capable of manipulating God. He could make every effort that would present himself in a positive manner while at the same time building a business plan for himself from the church. Many years ago, I considered selling insurance. I was taught that a good resource would be members of my church to convince them that they needed to buy a policy.
Such ulterior motives need not be financial or business related. It can also be based on social contacts. It is certainly reasonable for single person to find a future spouse within the congregation. However, that cannot be the primary reason to attend church.
Job proved worthy of God’s notice by his spiritual maturity and devotion. His spiritual life was based on a relationship with God that he valued most of all. Since he was so deeply grounded, he could weather this form of temptation and trial from Satan. It was not even a matter for him to prove himself. It was more of a matter to stay consistent for the high quality of person that he already was.
Christian Writer 