A Better Finish

“Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” (Job 8:7 AV)

I absolutely love the book of Job.  It is packed with timeless truths.  The three friends of Job have a combined wisdom of centuries of successful and godly living.  These three men know their theology.  Their words resonate with almost all of us.  The problem was, they did not resonate with Job. The wisdom they shared did not apply to Job.  Every once in a while, though, they would utter something that did.  The above verse was one of those times.  Job has lived a godly life and God blessed him for it.  To prove His sovereignty and Job’s undaunted faithfulness, the LORD allowed Satan to abuse Job.  He was brought to nothing.  Then these words are uttered which were prophetical in nature.  God would indeed bring Job out from the horrible pit which He allowed for him and bless him far more than He did before the trial.  He started out small several times.  And the LORD chose to bless him because He loved him.

I was sitting and chatting with a good friend of mine and we were discussing the computer game Sim City.  For those unfamiliar, Sim City stands for simulated city.  The player would start out with an open field and money.  He would plan and execute a city building plan from utilities to infrastructure, to business planning and building codes.  As he continued to reign as mayor, problems would arise.  A fire here.  A strike there.  A crime wave every now and then.  We were discussing gameplay and cheat codes.  I finally stopped playing when I couldn’t delegate everyday problems to underlings and continued the building and planning part of the game.  However, my friend would play it and allow the city to self-destruct so he could start all over again.  He would rebuild it a little better each time.  That was the objective of the game.  To manage a civilization while enriching yourself along the way.  It was the cycle of the game.  Reach a point to take a few steps backward, then take more steps forward.

Rather than God’s cycle of life for man, there is a greater truth here.  Not one of God’s children will suffer loss when compared to what he gains in eternity.  Even if he or she never does a thing for the LORD, they will be better off in heaven than they ever were on earth.  Whatever our station in life, in death there will be an increase.  For many, that increase will be significant.  There will be a home in heaven for us to enjoy.  There will be blessings of rewards that will forever testify to what God had done with our lives.  The bride’s garment supplied by the Groom Himself is our white robe of righteousness.  Upon that rob will be attached the gold, silver, and precious stones which the LORD will give to those who serve Him.  For all of eternity, our white robe of righteousness will reveal all the work He has been able to accomplish by our surrendered hearts.  The promise above is for all who believe on the name of the LORD Jesus Christ.  We may start out small, but give God control of the life and that is not how we will end up.  Job, for all his fussing, was still surrendered to what God wanted.  He may not have understood it and desired to make sense of it, but he never went back on God.  For this, God blessed him more in the end than He ever had in the beginning.