It's Up To Me!

by Tom Shadoin
    
I have been wondering over the years why God allowed Job’s children to die–and what this may mean for me. We are told that Job’s children were eating and drinking in their older brother’s house when a wind, perhaps a tornado, made the house cave in and kill all the occupants. This came about when Satan had challenged God to remove the hedge God had put around Job and all he had.
    
I asked myself, wasn’t it unfair of God to allow the death of Job’s innocent children? But then, I wondered, were they really innocent? We don’t know in detail what their behavior and character was, but we are told that Job would sanctify them and offer burnt offerings for them. He was concerned that they may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. As a righteous man, he seemed to have reason to believe this.
    
We have all probably heard the old slang of “preacher’s kids,” and how bad they can be. We might think of Aaron and his sons; Eli and his sons; David and his sons; or Hezekiah and his son Manasseh. There are more examples, to be sure.
    
What I had to realize from all of this is that righteous Godly character is not hereditary. I had to accept the fact that no one makes it into God’s kingdom by virtue of who his parents were or what his parents did. To qualify, I cannot rely on others. I am told to overcome my shortcomings, without blaming others for them or relying on the righteousness of others. I am challenged to take to heart and personalize Christ’s response to Peter that–no matter whether many or few will enter the Kingdom at His return–I need to strive to enter it.