Job
chapter 27 reminds me why God bragged about Job to begin the book.
In the first chapter God Himself called Job “blameless”. Job was
not perfect, but I marvel at his ability to stand firm with
everything against him. In many ways, Job is the definition of
integrity. Most people simply yield to pressure and compromise to
avoid being a target. Peer
pressure is not just something that affects teenagers!
This is a continuation of Job’s lecture to his friends, but he
begins with a preamble. “As
surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has
made me taste bitterness of soul… my lips will not speak
wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit.”
Even though everyone and everything in his life says otherwise, Job
will not curse God, or admit to unrighteousness. He says boldly, “I
will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my
integrity… I will maintain my righteousness“.
Here is the question that must be asked, Is there anything in your
life that is so important that you would not compromise an inch
regardless of the pressure? Men and women of integrity stand out in
our society because they are so rare.
Next
Job pinpoints to the real moment when eternity is fixed. “For
what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his
life?”
I believe we have an opportunity to receive God’s endless mercy up
until our last breath. He asks a question that should make all of us
pause, “Will
he find delight in the Almighty?“.
Next this man who has been ridiculed and accused of every evil deed
stands before his friends, stripped of every sign of success and
makes a bold statement. “I
will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I
will not conceal.”
It is critically important that we are careful who we take advice
from. Outward appearances can be deceiving. In matters of finance,
in matters of health or in matters of faith check what is taught.
Acts 17:11 praises the people of Berea because they heard the
teaching of the apostle Paul, and “they
received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures
every day to see if what Paul said was true“.
Job
describes the truth about what happens to our stuff. “Here
is the fate God allots to the wicked… his offspring will never have
enough to eat… theirs widows will not weep for them… the innocent
will divide his silver… The house he builds is like a moth’s
cocoon“.
In other words, the things we work and strive and sweat to gain are
left behind when we die. Others will build on, or squander the fruit
of our labor. What will you leave behind? Will it last? Job says
of the wicked man, “He
lies down wealthy, but will do so no more… Terrors overtake him
like a flood… The east wind carries him off, and he is gone“.
No matter how rich or powerful we become, death awaits all of us.
Job says, though the wicked may be surrounded by supporters, when
they are gone, they are booed off the stage, “It
claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place“.
I am not as upright as Job, but here is the reason I can walk with
joy. Jesus said to anyone that would listen, “For
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance”
(Matthew 9:13). And Acts 2:21 explains that promise is for me, “And
it shall come to pass
that
whoever
calls on the name of the Lord
shall
be saved”
(Acts 2:21). This is what I can brag about, how about you?