It’s a common scene replayed daily in any typical elementary school hallway. Allow me to set the stage: two students have had a conflict, maybe in the lunchroom, or out on the playground, and each has a story to tell, their own slant on the truth. Between the battling parties stands their teacher, listening intently to both sides, weighing evidence, reading body language, attempting to diffuse the situation and restore harmony in her classroom, all while teaching those children valuable life lessons in the process. I’ve watched it play out time and time again, always amazed by the grace and tact on display by that teacher-turned-arbitrator as she umpires her way through a difficult situation, re-establishes unity between two children, repairs hurt feelings, and mends friendships.
As I read through the Book of Job, my heart breaks for a man who struggles to balance his devotion to a holy, wise God, and the dreadful circumstances enveloping his life. His friends are convinced that he must be steeped in some hidden sin, they impugn his character, arguing that God had no recourse but to punish Job for his iniquity. Amidst his devastating pain and grief, Job poses this query to his friends, “…but how should man be just with God? …For he is not a man…Neither is there any daysman betwixt us.” No daysman. No arbitrator, no umpire, no one with the judicial capacity to reconcile a sinful man to a holy, just God, no teacher in the hallway, gently placing a hand on the shoulders of children who have broken the wall of fellowship between themselves, no one to restore harmony.
But praise God we do have a Daysman! Through His precious blood shed at Calvary to pay the penalty for sin, Jesus tore down that middle wall of partition between two alienated parties, and He stands with His hands extended, changing the relationship between God and man from one of enmity and war, to one of harmony and fellowship. We, through the unfathomable love of God and the sacrificial death of Christ, have been granted access to the throne of grace. And the work is finished, complete, and eternal. Have YOU trusted in the Ultimate Daysman? Have YOU been reconciled to God through Christ’s life-giving sacrifice for you? He is standing in the gap today, waiting for you.
I Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Thank you, Jesus, for standing in the gap that sin has carved and restoring fellowship between me and a holy, perfect God. Thank You for the mediation accomplished on the cross of Calvary.