Value People Over Stuff

Job 42:10 (NASB) The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.

 

The story of Job contains an amazing example of how a righteous person handles adversity. I strongly recommend reading and studying the entire book; however, for this blog post I would like to focus on this one verse (chapter 42, verse 10). God honors selflessness over and over again.  All throughout the Bible, God encourages us to care for others more than ourselves.

 

God restored Job when he prayed for his friends, not when he prayed for himself. Not only did the Lord restore what Job had, He doubled it. The saying “you can’t beat God giving” has been tried and proven to be true. There is no amount of money, time, or energy that you can give to others that God cannot return to you. Job took the time to pray for his friends, and God gave everything back to him PLUS some.

 

We tend to focus on what we’ve lost, what we’re lacking, and what we need. The lesson here is to stop concentrating on ourselves and start praying for the needs of others. Rather than trying to tightly hold on to what few possessions we really have, we should spend more on the needs of others. There is an example in the New Testament where Jesus tells a rich man to sell all he has and follow the Lord. Your stuff should never be more important than the work of God’s Kingdom. Job taught us that he didn’t value possessions over God Himself.