Job 15:29
They cannot retain their wealth,
Their fortune cannot endure,
Their yield is not prolonged upon the earth.
Trying to make sense of the book I have just read, my brain is throwing out a phrase like ‘Do the things that the person you want to be would do.’ That does not sound like a habit, but I think the goal is to do these things without wrangling over deciding to each time. One of the things that the person I want to be does is to cut their hair just before it grows too long. Seems simple, but I have to remember to look at my hair to try and determine when it is too long or learn how long it takes and follow a schedule. Neither of which is my strong point, but either could be of the person I want to be.
‘Retain their wealth’ was every other time ‘be rich’.
‘Fortune’ was also ‘substance’ and ‘wealth’.
‘Prolonged yield’ was also ‘strike root’, ‘possession’s spread’, and some others that made less sense.
The way this verse falls out, it seems these things are true of everyone. Assuming of course their wealth, fortune, and yield are measured in earthly riches. Kind of how you get what you want if you want what God wants, the success comes in not wanting according to your selfish nature or building riches according to the world. My personal goals of being the better me are still tied to me, but yielding to the wants I select and not those that the body or the world pick for me.
The fiction novel I am reading has a guy who was almost dead from a rare disease living after remission. His wife died just before he did, and a miracle of love saved his life to care for his kids. It’s a tearjerker. I assume he will die tragically in the end, but I am trying to enjoy it none the less. I do get some feel that I need to be better with my girls, so it won’t be a waste either way.
The habit book talks about writing as a habit as the author worked for years to hone his skill before he supposedly became something in his field. As I am seeing Microsoft Word highlight all the writing issues that make me me, I resolve to write the way I want and forget what Word wants me to do. I am not writing to conform to the world, but to help me and others conform to Christ. And this verse reminds me that my goals are not wealth or fortune or a prolonged time on earth being rich. My goals are to follow Christ, to help others do so, and to take joy in knowing that I am following my Lord and Savior.
Written 2/12/25, Posted 6/19/25 Job 369