“Who taught you that?”

One of the most effective practices for parents of adult children who have not only departed the home, but apparently could depart the faith, resides in the reasoning of righteous Job. Job thought, “My children may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job offered sacrifices for them daily (Job 1:5). What a prayer of grace for parents to give their adult children, one that depends only on the parents’ faith!
Job’s life was lived apparently before written Scripture. How could he come into a practice to know to do this? Who taught him?
Against a background of no media or input, this is a profound question.
The first such question came from God’s question to Adam and Eve: “Who told you that you are naked?” There were not too many others to blame. But the answer was spiritual.
Unfortunately with so much input coming into our children, we often hear a child blurt out something that surprises us. We quickly ask “Where did you hear that?” “Who told you that?” It could be 100’s of answers.
But when you are up against an environment of such limited input, WHO TAUGHT JOB to offer sacrifices for his adult children? Who taught him that it would not be useless to do so? Who taught him that he would be rewarded for earnestly seeking Him this way (Heb 11:1-2)? Who then taught him faith?
This takes us to something most lovely. This man lived with his God. God’s claim on Job at the book’s beginning before the Heavens and Satan was deserved. It was wrought in something we can hardly understand. He knew God by gut experience: question and answer, prayer and answered prayer. Such a relationship was cultivated that led him to faithfully and with anticipation offer sacrifices for those he cared the most: his children.

Wouldn’t you like to think you would go the way of Job without anything but God to direct you?
We now have the prophetic Word made even more sure in the Scriptures of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, let us delve even more deeply into true relationship with Him and see it work for us a persuasion as Job’s. His was experiential. If a man without anything but God’s answers could grow to know His character of faithfully answering His pleas for his most beloved children, what can hold us back from cultivating this lovely relationship ourselves…and with more certainty!!