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Topic: Be Slow To Condemn
[DCLM Daily Manna 6 May 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Job 22:21-30
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
KEY VERSE: “When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.” – (Job 22:29)
MESSAGE:
Sometimes, we think we have better knowledge of what God commands than others. Worse still we inadvertently erect a standard of expectation for others far beyond what God demands. Some people feel good doing this because they believe they are helping them. But in reality, they are destroying whatever little faith in God others have left.
Such was the effect of the words of Job’s friend, Eliphaz. When he started his speech, he commended Job for all the good and notable things he had done. But soon, he began to hint that there may be need for him to repent from some unknown sins. He urged him to turn to God and be forgiven. Thereafter, he would begin to prosper greatly; the Almighty shall protect him, and he would delight in God. When he prays, God would hear; whatever he decrees shall be done. God would shine His light on him; lift him up and save him from all his troubles. These are all truths; only that they did not apply to Job and his circumstances.
Many injuries have been inflicted as a result of rash judgments and insinuations that are totally untrue. Some young believers in faith have had to backslide as a result of receiving condemnation from those whose duty it is to make them grounded in faith.
We must ensure at all times that we do not condemn those God has justified. Even when we see people suffering from many adversities, we must not hastily assume that it is because of their sins. Of course, where we see obvious sins, we should encourage them to repent and turn to God. But if they are living as believers, we should assure them of the unfailing promises of God and affirm to them His faithfulness to help His children.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 14-17
