IT TOOK 28 CHAPTERS OF JOB'S MISERY before I hit good news in the Book of Job. But it was really good news.
In fact, it's more than good news. It's a surprise.
Which makes it extra good news.
That means we've already got the good news we expect. So, now we get more than we expected.
Who would have guessed?
Don’t look for wisdom here
We can't get wisdom by hunting for it the way miners dig for gold and silver and jewels. That's because
We can't see it.
"It's nowhere in sight" (Job 28:21, The Casual English Bible®).
We can't find it.
"It’s not in the land of the living" (28:13).
If it were, we wouldn't know what to do with it.
"Don’t go looking for it among the humans" (28:13).
It seems God didn't create it.
“I [wisdom] was with the LORD in the beginning,
before he created anything” (Proverbs 8:22)."God saw wisdom and evaluated it.
He understood it and approved it" (28:27).
Here's wisdom, according to the poet of Job 28:
“This is wisdom:
Treat your Lord with respect
And do good things in life, not evil" (28:28).
Surprise
Here's the surprise, we can stop looking for wisdom. It's not there. We're not going to find any jewels today.
I'll use my words to tell what I think Bible scholars are saying about this:
"Wisdom isn’t something we can find, take for ourselves, and carry it away like discovered jewels. It’s the other way around. Through our faith and our behavior, wisdom is what we become and what carries us away. We become the jewels.
It reminds me of something Jesus asked God for when he prayed for us.
"Father, unite them as one. You’re in me and I’m in you. Now I’m asking that they may become one with us" (John 17:21).
We don't gather up wisdom like we're picking beans. We become one with wisdom. It becomes part of who we are (just like beans do, but in a more pleasant way).
Someone should probably preach that. Or at least part of it.
Here’s what you missed
It’s Steve’s to-do list.
THE MOMENT I DECIDED to give you a short update about where I am and what I have been doing lately, it occurred to me that I am better than God in one way.
The reason I know I am is because of something Job wrote. I’ve been paraphrasing the Bible book of Job recently for my ongoing project of paraphrasing The Casual English Bible® (TCEB).
“Why doesn’t God get a calendar…
Of all those who know him,
No one has a clue about his schedule” (Job 24:1).
Job's angry words to God