Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
Job 4:1-4
Every one of us chooses how we will invest our lives. One day at a time we decide whether to spend our time, our resources, and our talents on ourselves or on others. We make a choice between the things of this world and the things of the next. We make those choices based on what we value and love most. If God is in His proper place in our lives, our focus will be on what matters to Him. However, if our hearts are divided and He is not first, we will gravitate toward things that do not last.
When Job’s friend Eliphaz came to comfort Job after the loss of his wealth, health, and family, he began with a summation of Job’s life. He had devoted the things God had trusted to him to helping and encouraging others. There was no problem in locating people Job had helped. This is the kind of life that produces things that will last. Any time we are focused on ourselves our priorities will be out of alignment with God’s purposes. We will miss the opportunities to make the kind of investments that truly matter in the lives of others. We will fail to do what matters most, and great opportunities will be wasted, never to return.
Daniel Webster wrote, “If we work on marble it will perish. If we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on men’s immortal minds, if we imbue them with high principles, with just fear of God and love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which time cannot efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.”
