Job 22:15

Will you cling to the ancient ways,

   Which the wicked have trodden,

My daily reading was about honoring God’s name. It gave me a thought about how Christians act so poorly that others want nothing to do with God. The actions of our country and its leaders is doing the same I would assume, putting other people off on wanting to come here. Or at least maybe putting off the kind of people we would want to come here and attracting those we do not. But as a Christian, these are the ones I am called to love and support.

‘Cling to’ was also ‘keep’, ‘marked’, ‘observed’, and ‘true to’. ‘Ancient ways’ was also ‘old way’, ‘old path’, ‘age-old path’, and ‘immemorial path’.

‘Wicked’ was ‘evil doers’ or ‘sinful’.

The new renters next door have a lab-chow mix that barks ferociously at anything. It is distracting me. I want it to stop. It makes me wonder what my neighbors thought of our dogs. Dogs bark. Having one is not necessarily a benefit to your neighbor, but dogs have been around since ancient days.

One possible aspect of this verse is that the wicked followed the same ways that everyone else has been trying to since forever. Another is that the evil ones have made a mockery of doing things the right, traditional way. Probably both have meaning since it is the living word of God, but with my unmet desire to study this book to see where Christ is shining, I think this is meant to help us understand that the old ways are no longer the right path. With the New Covenant with Christ, the old Jewish ways have been shown not to save, but shine a light on how we fail.

I had a dream/daydream that I had put all the not right behind me and I was starting anew. In the daydream, it was based on a traumatic event. When I woke this morning, I wondered why I would need a traumatic event to decide to live the life my convictions would have me lead. I decided I could change today. Now to figure out how to do so in manner that provides consistency.

Written 8/16/26, Posted 9/5/26, Job 534/~1070