| Day 49: Read today's devotional on Bible Gateway. Job 17:1-16 Job continues to defend his innocence while he specifically addresses the points brought up by Eliphaz. Wise Guys?Read"As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won't find a wise man among you. My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken. These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light. What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness? What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister? Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it? No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"
(Job 17:10-16) ReflectJob's three friends had reputations for being wise, but Job could not find wisdom in anything that they were saying. Later, God would back up Job's assertion when he condemned these men for misrepresenting his divine character (Job 42:7). Obviously Job's three friends had a faulty view of wisdom. They assumed that because they were prosperous and successful, God must be pleased with the way they were living and thinking—that prosperity is a reward for good living. Job, however, told his friends that they were starting with the wrong idea because earthly success and prosperity are not proof of faith in God. On the flipside, trouble and affliction do not prove faithlessness. That is, we shouldn't assume that suffering always occurs because of a person's sin. The truly wise person knows that wisdom comes from God alone, not from human successes or failures. And the truly wise person remains faithful to God. God's wisdom proved superior to that of Job and all his friends. Job was giving up hope of any future restoration of wealth and family and wrapping himself in thoughts of death and the rest from grief and pain it promised. The rewards that Job's friends described were all related to this present life. They were silent about the possibility of life after death. We must not evaluate life only in terms of this present world when God promises a never-ending, wonderful future to those who are faithful to him. RespondAsk God for wisdom and to help you keep your focus on the reality of eternal life. | 
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