God’s life in you

God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall. He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning. Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly. And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding. Job 28:23-28 From the text, Job inspite of what he has gone through in life will remain trusting to God. In the midst of trials, he decided to rely on God so he could have the wisdom that will help him gain understanding on what he was going through. Instead of giving up and running away from God, he cited the value of fearing God. Before you became a Christian you were under the power of sin. Fearing God is foreign to you. Even when you did not desire to commit sin, you cannot help yourself but be overcome by the power of sin. This only changed when you surrendered your life to God by accepting Jesus into your life. You are still a slave but no longer by sin but by righteousness that comes from God. You are now motivated to glorify and honor God because you now have the fear of the Lord. You now have the ability to discern right from wrong. As Job described this wisdom he said, “The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.” Having the healthy fear of the Lord drives you to live having reverence to God. You acknowledge that it is God who owns your life and that you will live this new life in obedience to His will. This is how the Apostle Paul described himself in his introduction in the book of Romans. “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus” (Romans 1:1). When people mistreated him because of his faith and desire to live for God, he did not retaliate. When faced with temptations, he knew that God is there to provide him a way out so he will not yield instead pursue a life of holiness. Being free from the power of sin does not mean that you are free to do anything you want or to live any way you want. The way you live should be an expression of God’s righteous living, something that He alone could produce in you through the Holy Spirit. “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them” (1 John 3:9).

Blessings.