Job 1:4-5

וְהָלְכוּ בָנָיו וְעָשׂוּ מִשְׁתֶּה בֵּית אִישׁ יוֹמוֹ וְשָׁלְחוּ וְקָרְאוּ
לִשְׁלֹשֶׁת אַחְיֹתֵיהֶם לֶאֱכֹל וְלִשְׁתּוֹת עִמָּהֶם

וַיְהִי כִּי הִקִּיפוּ יְמֵי הַמִּשְׁתֶּה וַיִּשְׁלַח אִיּוֹב וַיְקַדְּשֵׁם וְהִשְׁכִּים

בַּבֹּקֶר וְהֶעֱלָה עֹלוֹת מִסְפַּר כֻּלָּם כִּי אָמַר אִיּוֹב אוּלַי

חָטְאוּ בָנַי וּבֵרְכוּ אֱלֹהִים בִּלְבָבָם כָּכָה יַעֲשֶׂה אִיּוֹב כָּל הַיָּמִים

4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would send someone and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When they finished a round of banquets, Job would send (someone) and sanctify them. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them. Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this all the time. 

Job's children liked to party. They wanted to spend time together, and when they partied, they really partied. Job didn't try to talk them out of it. He was glad they got along. He was happy they wanted to spend time together. But he was also concerned for their souls. He didn't see anything that wrong with what they were doing, and he didn't hear them say anything or act any way that made him think they were sinning against God. But still he was a good and loving parent, and he prayed for them, "just in case they are sinning on the inside, in a way I can't see."

How often do we turn to God in prayer? We pray asking God for things – we ask him to forgive us, we ask him to give us this and that, we ask him to restore our health, our family, our freedom. All of these things are good to pray for, but Job showed us that we can pray for other people, too. "God, forgive my friend who has sinned." Whoever we are, wherever we are in life, there are people we can pray for: God, forgive my parents. Forgive my child. My wife. My cellmate. A guy I know. Job knew that only God forgives sins. We know it, too. When we turn to God and admit our sins to him, he promises that he forgives us through the blood of Jesus.

Sometimes a regular custom can turn into a bad habit. But there are good habits, too. Some of our habits, like washing our hands whenever we use a restroom, are healthy and shouldn't be given up. Others, like abusing alcohol, can be damaging. Even lethal. Daily prayer is a habit that's easy to get into. It isn't hard. Don't dishonor God by saying things like "whoever you are" or "if you're really listening" or the blasphemous reference to God as "he or she" that a priest was recently depicted as saying on Days of Our Lives. When we pray in Jesus' name, God listens. It's as simply as that. Just talk to God. It’s a good habit.

Job's act of making a burnt offering showed that he held the position of family priest. This was the usual practice before God changed it with the laws he to Moses on Mount Sinai. In Abraham's family, Abraham made the sacrifices. In Job's family, Job did it. The offering wasn't specified by God or regulated, but Job made it a custom, a good habit, to make a burnt offering for each one of his children: all ten of them. It was one way that he showed that he wanted to be right with God, and that he wanted his family to be right with God, too.

We don't have burnt offerings available to us, so how will you show that kind of faith in your life today? Maybe today is a good day to say a prayer for somebody else.

NOTE: We can't tell from the text how often Job's children had their get-togethers. Did they meet about once every month? If that were the case, we might think that they met on each of their particular birthdays. Since the get-togethers are each called "a period of feasting," it seems like these things ran for more than a single day. What these parties tell us is that Job's children all enjoyed one another's company, and made an effort to be together. I know of very few families--my own included--who get together up to ten times every year (or more). Certainly distance has something to do with this in many cases, but Job must have been delighted that his children got along so well even into their adult years.

Luther on this passage:

It is said of Job that he was “simple [pure] and upright” (Job 1:1). “Upright” because he was aimed and directed in his heart toward the future grace and glory which by faith he knew in the spirit were to come, but “simple” because he did not at the same time involve himself in earthly things but by uprightness kept himself pure in faith in what was to come. LW 11:376