Scripture for Today:  Job 8:11-13 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?  Can reeds thrive where there is no water?  While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.  Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.”

The papyrus reed had an important place in ancient cultures.  It was used to make a primitive form of paper.  Papyrus was used as early as 4000BC for writing.  Wherever the soil was damp, this reed could grow.  However, when the rains did not come, the soil would dry up and the reed would quickly die.  Without that water-soaked soil, the papyrus reed could not continue to thrive.

Our verse for today is spoken to Job by his friend, Bildad.  Job is experiencing acute suffering and he and his three friends are trying to understand the reason for it.  Bildad suggests that Job’s pain is the result of sin in his life.  That conclusion was incorrect, but Bildad’s description of the destiny of the godless is repeated throughout Scripture.  Those without the Lord have a hope that perishes.  It will not last as it is a flimsy hope without the Source of life-giving water.  The wicked thrive for a time, but forgetting God means their hope will perish with them.

Those who place their faith in Christ have a living hope that does not perish!  Unlike the wicked who forget God, believers do not rely on themselves, their riches or their own devises.  It is on Him and on Him only that we have set our hope! (II Cor. 1:9-10)

My hope will never perish because He has given me a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! (I Peter 1:3)  I could not live without hope, and praise God, I do not have to!