“NAKED I CAME … NAKED SHALL I RETURN”
And he said, “Naked I came from
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has
taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
The above sayings had been quoted often as the sayings of God when in fact it was the sayings of Job in the midst of his misfortunes and sufferings as he was trying to make sense of everything that was happening. Is it true that the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away? Is it true that naked we came and naked we shall go? We need to understand, just because someone said something which was recorded in the Bible, it does not necessarily mean the saying is of God. We have need to differentiate between what is of God and what is of man, what God said, what man said and the conversation between God and man or man with God must be taken into content. Otherwise, it is easy to mistake man’s thoughts as God’s thoughts and man’s sayings as God sayings. A lot of damage had been done because we do not take things in its context. That is why when reading the Bible, we need to keep in mind the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, HOW and WHY. Coming back to the sayings of Job above, here is what I think.
What God had given, can be lost if we are not careful.
Unlike us, God is generous. Everything He made for Adam and Eve in Eden were “taken”
away not because God was vengeful or disappointed with them. God simply cannot
allow sinful (fallen) man to have access to the Tree of Life in Eden. God gave
man everything and man lost it all. We reap what we sow, and this is the universal
law of cause and effect. As for “naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I
shall return” this is what it is. First of all, we are not returning to our
mother’s womb. That is not a possibility. Secondly, it is not true we shall return naked.
We will in fact return with all our works, our deeds, whether good of bad. There
will be two future judgments awaiting humanity. The Great White Throne Judgment
and the Judgment Seat of Christ. The former awaits the unbelievers and rejecters
of God and the later is reserved for followers of Christ. At both judgments,
Books will be opened and each will be judged by their works. The degree of sufferings
and rewards will then be determined.
At the
Great White Throne Judgment:
Romans
2:5-6
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his
righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will repay
each person according to what they have done.”
At the
Judgment Seat of Christ:
2 Cor.
5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in
the body, whether good or bad.
How we
live our lives today matter.
Ecclesiastes
12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every
hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Let us
therefore not have this notion that “Naked I came ... and naked I shall return.
The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away”. We will all leave one day with our
works. And what God had given, being stewards, we either gained more or we had lost
it. Our salvation too is a gift from God. Let us not lose it for the sake of
temporary pleasures and lust. Think eternity. And remember, as believers and
followers of Christ, even though we are saved by grace, we will be judged by our
works. Jesus do not wish that we return to God empty handed. He said it is
important TODAY that we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
Matt.
6:19-20
19 “Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do
not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So yes,
naked we came but when we leave, we will not go empty handed. Let us store up
for ourselves today treasures in heaven. Why? Because one day, we shall migrate to heaven.
Our treasures will give us a head start. God bless.
