Minimalist Bible: The Story of Job – Prologue
 |
Written by Chad - |
God has given me the idea to pursue a personal design project of creating minimalist posters to share the awesome stories of the Bible. If you missed out on previous posters, don't worry, I have created a landing page where you can easily catch up. Check it out here.
This poster series comes from the book of Job. A tale beginning with hardship, frustration and hurt, with an ending of redemption and forgiveness. I'm excited today to reveal The Story of Job: Prologue, part one of a six part series.
The Story of Job: Prologue comes from Job 1:1-5 (NLT) which says, "There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, 'Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.' This was Job’s regular practice."
Job was a stud in the land of Uz. He had everything—great wealth, many sons, beautiful daughters, probably a hot wife and week-long parties. He was blameless, full of integrity and feared God; worshipped Him with everything he had. He was so fearful of God, that he would offer burnt offerings every morning to make sure that his family was righteous in the eyes of the Lord.
Job set the bar high for all of us. He worked hard without cutting corners, loved and supported his family and faithfully worshipped God. Job took the role of being a follower of God very seriously and from that, he was blessed with many riches—material and spiritual.
When we look at Job, we can see the fruits of his labor and the blessings that God had given him. Job understood, believed and practiced the laws that God had given to the people during his time. Often, we as believers understand and believe in the Word of God, but we don't always put it into practice. We focus on the blessings, rewards and praises that God will give us, but forget the most important part—actually doing what God says.
Luke 11:28 (NLT) says, "Jesus replied, 'But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice. '"
We need to start putting God's word into practice instead of merely talking about how we could put it into practice. By kneeling before God, listening to what He has to say and then actually putting our feet to the pavement to obey, we will experience a life full of blessings. Now hold up... I'm worried that you just heard me say, "If you pray and obey, God will automatically give you stuff." Wrong. We need to check our motives. If we are doing what God tells us to do only so we can "get stuff", I'm betting God won't be all that willing to bless you in your endeavors. However, if you are honoring God with everything you have, everything you are, and everything in you solely because He is so worthy of that honor and because you just can't help but listen in prayer and obey him out of your love for Him, God will be excited to bless you (as a bonus, not because you were seeking that).
We need to step up to the plate like Job did during his lifetime. Job's entire estate, his family, and his attitude were platforms used to express his love and affection for God. God is willing to share His fruit with anyone who is willing to get up and do the harvesting. Don't get me wrong, it's hard work to honor God with everything, but the reward is very satisfying, whether it comes in this life or in the next.
