SERVANTS OF CHRIST

 

When we think of Job, we think of suffering and endurance and a test of faith, all of which is true. What is worthy of mention is the magnitude of his trials. According to God, Job was righteous, upright and perfect in every way (Job 1:8), so not just any little trial would do for a man of such stature, it had to be something big and big it was.

 

How did Job endure all his suffering? In my mind there is one answer to that. In all his ‘uprightness’ Job became Christlike and could not be moved when the suffering came upon him, even as the Saviour could not be when His came upon Him.  Besides his obedience to God, the Bible attributes  the following accomplishments to Job:

 

He strengthened weak hands (4:3)

He supported those who were falling (4:4)

He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)

He delivered the poor (29:12)

He cared for the orphans (29:12)

He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)

He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)

He was eyes to the blind (29:15)

He was feet to the lame (29:15)

He was father to the poor (29:16)

He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)

He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)

He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)

He opened his home to strangers (31:32)

 

In short, Job’s life was a life of selfless service. There is not a more sure way of becoming Christlike than the path of service. But not just any service, true service means allowing a measure of Christ’s regard and love for others to reach them through you. It is being servants of Christ. It is acting in His stead. It is being the means of salvation by proxy. It is loving the Saviour to the point where you would desire to bring souls unto Him. It is following Him to the point where you are endowed with His love, the pure love of Christ. 

 

When we are baptised we become the children of Christ. When we live His teachings, we take the saying ‘you are just like your father’ to another level.

Your footsteps, so big and so deep

Swallow my feeble feet;

I try to keep up

To tend Your vulnerable sheep;

To gather the lost,

To clothe, to feed;

So many for my poorly 

Devised shelter to keep.

Illuminate my steps dear Saviour

With Your glorious light;

Grant me Thy mercy and Thy power

To feed them from Thy godly heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

ART: Yongsung Kim