- Numbers 6:26
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. - Job 14:20
You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away.
I was surprised to find that the word countenance only appears twice in the ESV.
The reason this article is entitled chess is because I was at one time a competitive chess player.
I gave it up because I discovered my drive to win produced an undesirable countenance. I lost friends because of it. I turned friends into opponents and therefore the enemy. Friends do not appreciate being treated like enemies.
This is in line with recents posts about being competitive. We cannot win friends by treating them like the enemy. We cannot win lost sinners to Christ by pointing out their sin.
Many of us have failed in following the advice “love the sinner but not the sin.” Perhaps that is because we arrive to help while being competitive. We might not even be aware of how combative that feels to the lost.
The only time I can remember Jesus being combative was when non-jews were denied a place to worship God in the temple in Jerusalem. The marketplace where the stalls were set up to sell sacrifices to worshipers that came great distances was done in the only area of the temple where non-jews were allowed to worship.
It is true that Jesus called them a den of thieves but what was being stolen from God was an opportunity to be worshiped by non-jews. God could care less about the money, He is in the soul saving business.
He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Salvation belongs to God, do not fight Him over it.