God`s fence

Job 1:9 And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land.

Jesus said:

Joh 8:44 You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Sometimes, even a fool may say something worthwhile. Even though he is the father of lies, even the devil may sometimes say something truthful.

In Job 1: 9 & 10, he says something about the hedge around Job, which God does not dispute. God goes even further to prove that the hedge around Job was higher and stronger even than satan imagined.

We sometimes miss this lesson in the book of Job.

What suggestions does God’s hedge about us make?

1. Proprietorship: God’s hedge around us suggests that He owns us. No honest man will put a fence around someone else’s property. God created us and redeemed us. Isa 43:1 says “I have redeemed you”, and with that the deal is sealed. We respond with a “You have redeemed me” and with that we recognize His ownership.

2. Preciousness: In any country you will find millions of acres of unclaimed, unfenced land, not worthy to be claimed or fenced. But, fertile lands are.

3. Protection: a Solid fence protects the crops. Satan walked around Job and found the fence too strong to penetrate, until God, conditionally, opened the gate. Ps 34:7 tells us that no mother watches over her children as anxiously as Jesus watches over His children.

4. Purpose: God’s hedge is not for protection only. His intention is to plant and cultivate in this field.

The character of those fenced by God

A. Separation: Jesus told His disciples: “you do not belong to this world….”His prayer was: “not that You take them out of this world, but that You protect them from the evil one”

B. Usefulness: Jesus says: “you are the salt of the earth” salt preserves, flavors and even creates thirst. “You are the light of the world”. Light illuminates, gives life, health and direction.

C. Fruitfulness: One should expect from a fenced in field that it would produce. Abandon a field, remove the fence and soon it would produce no harvest.

D. Endurance: James writes: “you have heard of Job’s perseverance” The word here does not mean patience in the sense of waiting for something to happen. It means patience in the sense of being able to endure, to keep going on in the face of disappointment, frustration, suffering and defeat.

May God help us who are God’s precious and protected possession to carry out His purpose for us!

Father help us to keep ourselves separate from the world, useful and fruitful! Help us to endure, to keep on.