Job had argued that there is no benefit in being good because good and bad befall both the righteous and the wicked. Elihu moves to answer this question specifically. He says, “For you say, “What advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?”
This is really a universal question, isn’t it? If death comes to all, good and bad, why strive for good! We should as the beer commercial’s suggest, “Go for the Gusto.” Get all the pleasure you can out of life because it makes no difference. The end of both the righteous and the wicked is the same.
The question itself has missed the point and reveals a true misunderstanding of God’s passionate desire for a relationship with man. When we ask what the use of being good is, we’re just exposing ourselves as having fallen for Satan’s tricks. He argued that Job only loved God and was righteous because of all the benefits he received. If God allowed Satan to remove those benefits, Job would then have nothing to do with God. The question itself, assumed our righteousness is motivated by rewards. If that’s the case, sure, we will stop walking in the steps of the Savior. Those steps are difficult. They require sacrifice, they require forsaking the pleasures and lusts and passion of earth.
The right motivation for man is intimacy with God. God sent His Son into the world, not to start another religion, but to offer each of us a personal relationship. Religions look for making your life better. Relationships strive to get to know and grow to love in all life’s ups and downs.
We should ask, “Is Jesus Christ simply the central figure in a religion in which I hope to glean benefits? Or is He the basis upon which I can build a new, growing, healthy, vibrant relationship with God?