BH Bulletin - Friday 9 April 2021

Thought for the Day by Phil Washington (BH Member)

​The final word
 
‘And so Job died, an old man and full of years’ Job 42:17
 
I was reading through the book of Job a few weeks back, and it was the final verse that made me stop and think. It's very 'matter of fact' and in many ways, quite lovely. 'And so Job died, an old man and full of years' - his life on earth was ended. He'd started off well, being a righteous man - 'blameless and upright'. He 'feared God and shunned evil' (1:1). He was also very rich, happy and kind. An important man, he was in fact 'the greatest man in the East' (1:3). But then things went wrong, and he lost everything - family, wealth, respect, health - you know the story.
 
But here, in the final chapter, we get a touching 'epilogue', and learn that the latter part of his life was more blessed by God than the former part (42:12). After his troubles were over, he lived for another 140 years. Then, as an 'old man, full of years' (v17), he died. As other old testament books would have said, he 'rested with his fathers'.
 
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ let's not fear death, at whatever time it comes, but trust that our times are truly in God's hand. Let's see it as resting with our loving saviour, and with our dear friends too. Alive and waiting with joyful expectation for the resurrection day and our glorious new life and destiny. Yes, death brings great sorrow - of course it does. But through the darkness and weeping of the night, is the reminder that 'rejoicing comes in the morning’ (Ps 30:5). 'Trust in the Lord at all times' (Ps 62:8) - even in and through the nights of sorrow.