My Own Eyes – April 2, 2024

After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:26,27

My Own Eyes

From Chicago, you take a 16-hour flight to Muscat International Airport, located on the southeastern corner of the Sinai Peninsula. From there, you’re in for a long drive—over 500 miles through the barren desert. Once you arrive at the city of Salalah, you still must work your way through another 20 miles of narrow, winding roads to reach a hilltop. There, you will find a small, modest building. Walk inside, and there, in the center of the floor, you will see it—the traditional site where the Old Testament believer Job lies buried.

Stand there for a moment in that tiny room. Let your eyes rest on the rectangular grave. What remains of Job’s body? Dust? A few bone fragments, perhaps? This would come as no surprise to Job. He understood very well the nature of death in this sinful, broken world. He understood that, upon death, the physical body breaks down.

But Job understood something else. He knew that even after his body had decomposed in death, there would come a moment when he would see God with his body resurrected and restored. Or as Job himself proclaimed, “Yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.”

Beneath the rectangle in the floor of that tiny hilltop room, Job’s body will not remain as grains of dust and bits of bone. His body will rise. He knows this because his Redeemer has promised to raise him. And he knows that his Redeemer will keep his promise because Job knows that his Redeemer lives.

Whether you are looking at the grave of Job on a remote hilltop or the grave of your loved one who has died in the Lord, or whether age or illness has made it clear that your own body does not have long to live—one beautiful truth stands tall. Jesus has conquered sin and death at the cross. He has risen from death. In him, we stand forgiven. Eternal life awaits.

Prayer:
Lord, one day I will see you with my own eyes. How my heart yearns within me. Amen.