Job 6:17

In the warm season, they disappear,

   When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

This morning in our bible study, we discussed why God’s commands are not a long list of dos and don’ts for the Christian. I however have a checklist I use every day. My checklist is not a list of rules, but it is a list of the things I decided I wanted to do every day in order to be more successful as a tool for God’s work. My brain works a certain way, and my checklist fits who I am. It is not for everyone and while I am not sure what they have to do with wadis, I certainly am better with my list.

“In the warm season” was also put forth as “in time of heat”, “in the dry season”, “when it is warm”, “what time they wax warm”, “but when they thaw”, “they flow one moment”, “when they warm”, and “in the time of heat”. Vanishing after thawing seems very out of sync, they flow one moment seems out of step, and all the rest are essentially the same. “They disappear” was countered with “cease to flow”, “vanish”, and “are gone”. Cease to flow seemed unlike the others and I just liked disappear better in this application.

“When it is hot” seemed better than the lone alternative of “in the heat”. “Vanish” seemed better in this second stitch than “disappear”, “are consumed” (which used vanish in the first stitch), “flicker away”, and “melt”. I have yet to see a stream bed melt away, but this does give some support to the water only being in place when it is freezing and never above freezing. This is not supported by the bulk of the information, but it is still lingering.

I am reminded of the phrase “the tough get going”. This is not how Job is describing his companions. It is the opposite. As soon as it gets hot, the wadi dries up; now that Job needs help, he is not getting any help from his friends. I have had people pass through my life during its seasons. Some were friends, some are friends, some never were. I wish some were still friends and still in my life. But my goal is not to have a list of friends so much as to have a list of people I have impacted. Any drive I have to be like a monk holed up away from the world studying the Bible is overwhelmed by the drive to have relationships. Hopefully as I mature, they disappear a little less.