May I listen and learn.

Saturday   11-7-15  San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America

Scripture reading:    Job 31 – 32      Galatians 5 - 6

S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Job 31:1-7 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.  What has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?  It is calamity for the wicked, misfortune for those who do evil.  He sees everything I do and every step I take.  "Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone?  Let God judge me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity.” NLT

O.  Job boasts over and again of a clear conscience.  He refuses to see himself as a sinner until chapter 40 after God speaks to him directly.  If all he says about himself was true, then he has certainly lived as an example of a saintly person.  He even trained his servants to be kind to the needy. 

A.  As I study this interesting poetic book, I am amazed at the true insight regarding God that both Job and his “comforters” had.  Much of what they said is true, yet they had this revelation of many of God’s attributes long before Moses and the prophets.  They had never seen a Bible yet they knew about a just God. 

Perhaps the moral of this story is that even the best of us are sinners at heart.  Job could not see his own sin until God spoke.  I am slow to admit my faults until God himself through His Holy Spirit speaks to my conscience.  At the great and final judgment no one will dare to shake their finger in the face of God and cry for justice, claiming perfection.  The first couple sinned and tried to hide themselves and cover their nakedness.  But the best of us will finally, like Job submit to the judgment of a perfectly holy God.  I cast myself upon His mercy and grace. 

This story also teaches me that all my suffering and troubles are not necessarily a result of my personal sin.  In this case God has allowed Satan to intensify the heat and better purify the gold in a noble man’s life.

P.  Lord, may I be slow to present my case for holiness and quick to admit my faults and sins before You.  May I never be found falling into Job’s trap, who tried to blame You for what he perceived was injustice.   Help me to place my hand over my mouth before I say a word to blame You for my suffering.  Your mercies and acts of grace are endless.  Thank you for this ancient story.  May I read, listen and learn from my “mentor” Brother Job.  Amen. 

Ralph