Though He Slay Me...

Job 13:15 - Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him...

Just the other day a police officer was shot and killed by a running suspect in the woods of central Florida. Killed also was his canine partner "Diogi" (Sounds - D-O-G) who was shot in the chest. Ask any canine handler and they will tell you that above all, their dog will sacrifice his life for them. Why? Because they completely trust their master. Place that trusting dog in front of their master and give the handler an axe, and as his master cocks the axe in preparation to kill the dog the animal will sit and watch in utter obedience. Why? He trusts his master regardless of what he is seeing even as the handler prepares to kill his own dog.

That is exactly what Job is saying here. Even if it appears that his Master is preparing to kill him, still he will trust Him. What an extreme and incredible profession of faith. Today we have twisted and redefined God Himself in order that He might come and be a part of our life when the Word from the Lord Himself opens an opportunity for a sinner to come and by faith become a part of His life. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul as he leaves Ephesus:

Acts 20:24 - But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself...

What is he saying? Paul is offering his life to his Master to do with what pleases the Lord, not Paul, even if it means death. To die for Jesus. What a wondrous thought. That scenario cannot be orchestrated by the flesh and it is a sacred opportunity and calling that few are granted. To die for Jesus. To actually face death simply on the basis of being a believing follower of the Master. But isn't that which Holy Spirit has trained us for? And is it not what we have learned about Him that would give us the strength to lay down our very lives for Him? Did He not give His life for us and did He not remove the walking death that we used to call life and give us His resurrected and eternal life?

Why oh why do we hold on to this selfish life that so often resembles that which is dead? There are so many oxymorons in these truths that only the Spirit can help us understand and conform. The Spirit-filled believer appears to be living this life when in reality he is a dead man. Crucified with Christ and dead to this world. But who is this I see going to work and eating and doing all the things normal people do? That is a dead shell, a body that has survived a dramatic metamorphosis but now is a vessel that carries within it Jesus Christ Himself, the Hope of Glory and the Creator of everything. And one day the earthen vessel that you now see will be destroyed in favor of one that will look like...well...like the body Jesus has now.

Wait a minute, are you telling me that the Spirit-filled believer is some kind of a Christian zombie? OK, if you want to make that metaphor let us parallel the facts. A sinner is dead in trespasses and sins, but by faith he becomes a believing follower of the Resurrection incarnate, Jesus Christ. "Up From the Grave He Arose". The sinner now is made alive in Christ for a long time. Forever, to be exact. But what about that form that we still recognize? Oh yea, temporary. But doesn't having the Risen Christ living in that body affect it? Completely.

II Cor.5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Now this body gives me trouble on many fronts. It gets sick and is very limited, and it always wants to do what it used to do in the grave. Are you telling me that even with Jesus the Savior living inside it, your body still wants to go back to the grave. Oh yes, and it doesn't just make suggested whispers about it, it demands it. You see, it was trained in the grave and it knows nothing else. Then what do you do? I murder it. You mean you shoot it? No, that is too easy, it must be crucified...daily...every moment. It is then and only then do I fully experience the life of Jesus Himself.

But isn't that what Jesus has said? To keep your life is to lose it, and to lose your life is to find life. And Job says "though he slay me, yet will I trust Him". It is a fulfilling mystery that generously allows you to love the people God has given to you on earth while gloriously thirst to be with Christ, which is far better. Why? Well as Job further remarked, "I KNOW that my Redeemer liveth". I believe that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, but I don't KNOW it. I wasn't there. I believe that World War II occurred but I don't KNOW it. I wasn't there. I believe Luther nailed 95 thesis to the door of Castle Church but I don't KNOW it. I wasn't there. But I KNOW that I met Jesus Christ in March of 1975.

I was there.

And now we belong to Him for whatever His purposes and whatever glorifies Christ. "But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day." And somewhat like a canine gazing at his master, I gaze at my Master. He has been faithful, He has taught me, He has fed me, He has trained me, He has loved me, and I have come to trust Him without seeing, without understanding, and without explanation. Do unto me, Lord, as You see fit.

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him...