Read the Bible in a Year This morning read Job 22--24 Is God Pleased If We Are Righteous? Eliphaz asked Job an interesting question. 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless? (Job 22:3). To me, the answer is so obvious that I wonder if I have misunderstood Eliphaz. Does it give God any pleasure if we are righteous? Well, of course it does! How can we answer otherwise? Perhaps the second question provides more insight into the thinking of Eliphaz. Do we profit God, let us say in a business sense, if we are righteous and blameless? You see, Eliphaz is probably using Hebrew parallelism in which the second line does not introduce a new thought, but is simply a rewording, often with synonyms, of the first thought. Does God make a business gain by our righteousness? No, He does not. However, He may consider it personal gain if we are righteous. It is a loss to Satan and a gain to God. These two wage war over the territory of our hearts. It could be that Eliphaz is so bent out of shape by Job's arguments that he said things that he does not realize either what he said or does not believe them. Either way, it is crucial to keep our wits regardless of what is happening to us. Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100 http://www.plymouth-church.com/dons_corner2.html http://associate.com/groups/emaildevotionals/