Message summary: What a blessing that we have a living hope! Today we consider the despair of having a perishing hope.

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"Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold" (Job 8:13-15).

Have you ever walked into a spider web? Who among us hasn't! As you walk along your eyes may be focused on something distant and you don't see the spider web till you walk right through it. You still can't see it but you sure do feel it and immediately your arms begin to flail in an effort to get the icky stuff off, all the while hoping the spider was not in the web!

However, I'm really not worried about getting tangled in the web and being eaten by the spider for breakfast. But spiders and their webs are creepy and I don't want a spider bite, poisonous or not!

Most of us consider spiders and their webs icky, but today we're going to draw a spiritual lesson from one of the only two obscure references of the spider mentioned in the Bible. (The other is in Isaiah 59:5.)

Job is a remarkable book. Probably when most of us consider Job we recall the tremendous trial he endured, but there are so many gems of wisdom throughout the book. Today's portion is from a discourse by Bildad the Shuhite, one of Job's friends.* These three friends and their attempts to comfort Job were ultimately deficient but still contain some gems of wisdom.

The Scripture preceding our daily text has a timeless observation from nature: "Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass" (Job 8:11,12). This is immediately followed by the statement in the daily text, "Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless".

Many of us enjoy a song titled "Living Hope" that describes Jesus as "Our living hope" (link below). Just imagine the contrast between one who has living hope and one who has perishing hope.

Bildad develops a truth based on the observation of a spider's web: "whose confidence is fragile, and whose trust is a spider’s web".

God's intended purpose for the spider's web is very efficient for its designed purpose. Spend some time observing nature and you will see the tiny creatures resting comfortably for hours on end in their home-made webs while also waiting for prey.

But it would be absolutely foolish for me, as a human, to count on a spider web to provide hope for my eternal destiny! Such absurd thinking is further described by Bildad in V. 15: "He trusts in his house, but it does not stand; he holds fast to it, but it does not endure". A similar but far more familiar illustration is the teaching of Jesus regarding the man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:24-27).

Bildad illustrates what the majority of people do rather than place their hope, trust and reliance on the Lord. Today let us hide this important truth deep within our hearts. What a blessing that we have the joy of a living hope rather than the despair of a perishing hope.

Be encouraged today!  Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber