A Fresh Start

This study is laid out for my Sunday School Teen class and I was going to change the layout for a blog post but just decided to leave it as it is. It is quite simple to read through and prayerfully you enjoy this study.

Let’s look at Job:

• He lost everything and on top of it, throughout most of the book of Job, we see his friends being discouraging.
• 42:1-17 is the last chapter and so full of God’s wonderful advice to help us get a new start in life.
  • We can confess our sins
  • We can change if we’ve done wrong
  • We can forgive one another
• First – God knows everything we do and think
  • 42:17 “…that no thought can be withholden from thee.”
  • We can’t get away with anything
  • God knows it all:
    • What we do with friends
    • What we do in secret
    • What we do behind a closed door
    • What we do when we are alone in the house
    • What we do in the dark (People think they can sin in the dark and God does not know)
    • What we do on the internet/gaming/chat rooms, etc.
    • What we do when we are in the world, at school, and the workplace
    • God knows if we act one way in church, another way in our homes, and another way at school or the workplace
    • He knows the jokes we laugh at and the ones we tell
    • He knows every word out of our mouths and every thought
    • God knows it all
    • There is nothing we can do – anywhere – and God does not know

Job 34:21 “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.”

• Second – When God convicts us of our sin, what do we do? We can make a clean, fresh start in 2021 or anytime of the year. God convicted Job’s friend in
  • 42:7 “…the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right…”
    • God convicted Eliphaz
    • He felt bad for what he had done (that is conviction)
    • Eliphaz could have ignored God’s conviction and done nothing
  • God gave Eliphaz instructions as to what to do to make it right.
    • 42:8 “Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering…”
    • Eliphaz basically had to go humble himself, work to gather the sacrifice, and go apologize to Job if he didn’t want the wrath of God poured out on him and his friends. 42:8 “…lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right…”
    • Eliphaz had to obey God’s instructions if he wanted a clean, fresh new start in life and God’s wrath to calm down.

Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”

God would not hear Eliphaz and the friends because they had iniquity/sin in their heart. They had to go to Job because obviously Job had not sinned, and God knew it and God knew he would accept Job’s prayer.

• Third – Now Job had something to do. He had to accept the sacrifice of his friends and pray for them.
  • 42:8 “…and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the things which is right, like my servant Job.”
    • Now Job had something to do to help restore his friends into the right fellowship with the Lord and with himself.
    • He had to forgive them.
    • He had to do it with the right spirit and not be prideful that he had behaved correctly and not point a finger at his friends who had not obeyed God.
    • This would have been a tough spot for Job as he had to make sure he handled everything correctly with the sacrifice and prayer and to help restore his friends
• Forth – Everyone obeyed God. The friends went with their sacrifice and a humble spirit and Job prayed with the right, humble spirit.
  • • The friends gained nothing tangible, but God accepted their sacrifice, their forgiveness, and restored their fellowship with him, and they did not have God’s wrath poured out on them.
      • 42:9 “So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.”
    • Job’s life turned around after he prayed for his friends. Job had a decision to make. He didn’t have to obey God and pray for his friends. He didn’t know God would give him twice as much as he had before all the bad stuff happened. Job could have said “I’m not praying for you.”
      • Obviously, Job prayed with the right kind of spirit because the end of v 42:9 “the Lord also accepted Job.” God accepted Job’s prayer.
      • Job 42:10 “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
    • Now everyone had a fresh, clean start. If this was the beginning of a year, they had a new year with a fresh start.
      • Their friendship was restored, and they were the best buddies/mates or BFF
      • This is an encouragement to think about things that might need to be made right in your lives so you can have:
        • a fresh, clean start in 2021 or anytime of the year
        • a fresh new relationship with fellow believers and friends
        • a great fellowship with the Lord in 2021

Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

If you’ve been the one to offend someone, go, get it right. If someone comes to you for forgiveness, forgive them and move on in life. Who knows what blessings may be around the corner for us if we’d forgive our enemies?

Proverbs 25:21-22 “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: 22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.”