Today’s household object is the pen and the Bible passage is Job 19:23-29.
Before we had computers, we had pens to write with! The pen is one of the most valuable inventions of humankind; it is a powerful tool. It can record truth, and the passage today contains some of the most inspiring words in the whole of the Bible: Job’s declaration by faith that, even in the midst of great trials and sorrow, ‘my Redeemer lives, and that at the last He will stand upon the earth, and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God.’ He asks for an iron pen so that these truths can be recorded permanently.
When I go on holiday, I enjoy writing in sand, but that is always with the knowledge that as the tide comes in, my words will be washed away. Job realises that even though our bodies blow away as dust, the words we have spoken and written and the deeds we have done can be remembered from one generation to another. Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’… which should make us pause when we are writing to ensure that we write truth that can last. May Jesus, God’s living Word, write His words on our hearts so that we can write His truth that can set people free.
