Job CLXXVIII

 It is doubtless that by this point, Job had searched his heart countless times to see where he could have displeased the Lord at some point along his journey. It’s worth pondering that, even in his current state, his one constant was to make sure his hands were clean and that he had not sinned. God was the singular priority in Job’s life, and though he could bear the loss of all things, this one thing he could not bear. God is sufficient. He is more than enough, and the sooner we understand this valuable lesson, the easier our journey toward eternity will be.

It wasn’t because he thought that would extend his life; he had already come to terms with his mortality, acknowledging that on his eyelids was the shadow of death, but that he would meet his maker knowing he had run his race faithfully, not having been a hypocrite, or a man who hid his sin so well that those around him hadn’t noticed. Job understood that had he sinned, though men may not have noticed, God would have. It is a comfort and a joy to know that when you stand before God, it will not be in shame or reproach, but as one who walked uprightly, having acknowledged God’s omniscience and lived accordingly.

Job knew himself to be innocent of the accusations leveled against him. Due to his character and uprightness, it would not have been something he wouldn’t have considered and examined himself over time and time again. Each time, up until this point, he’d concluded there was no violence in his hands, and his prayers were pure.

Job wasn’t saying these things just to say them; he was saying them because they were true. His knowledge of God was deep enough and broad enough that he understood there was no point in trying to put on airs or insist upon his innocence when God knew otherwise. If he’d known of sin in his life, he would have confessed to it. If he knew himself to have been guilty of something, he would have repented of it.

Job was no longer trying to convince his friends of anything. They’d made up their minds, they’d chosen to scorn rather than comfort him, and the only place he could appeal to was heaven. God knows the truth of it, Job said, my witness is in heaven and my evidence is on high. It doesn’t matter if you believe me, it doesn’t matter if you think I’m lying, it doesn’t matter that you think I'm deserving of worse than I’m already enduring, God knows the truth of it!

Job was living out what John would later encourage those of the way to pursue in his first epistle.

1 John 3:18-21, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”

You know if you love someone. You don’t have to guess at it or wonder. Some people say it and don’t mean it, others say it and mean it, and others still never say it, but their actions bear out the reality that they love in deed and in truth.

Because so few take the time to think things through, and so many are addicted to the instant dopamine hit of hearing the words, they settle for being told they are loved without ever wondering why there is no action behind it. There is a fundamental difference between telling someone you love them and making the commitment to spend the rest of your life with them. Words are easy to manufacture; actions require active planning, commitment, and execution.

In modern-day parlance, if you’ve been dating for five years and he hasn’t put a ring on it, even though he may say he loves you, his actions suggest otherwise. True love isn’t about enjoying the highs; everyone enjoys a nice vacation, some sand between their toes, and swaying palm trees off in the distance. True love is about being there for the person when things aren’t so rosy, when they’re hurting, when they’re suffering, when the ever-present smile that used to light up their eyes is rare, and all you can do is put on a brave face, hold their hand, and be present.

Job didn’t say he loved God. Job loved God, both in deed and in truth. In deed, presupposes action; consistent, faithful action, coupled with intimacy and fellowship. In truth, presupposes brutal honesty with oneself, and acknowledging when it’s just words passing your lips, or an actual and present reality of one’s heart, mind, and soul. It’s the difference between saying I love you and showing I love you.

When we know we love God, when we conclude this truth with absolute certainty, we can assure our hearts before Him. What this means is simple enough. When we assure our hearts, we convince and persuade them that it is so. When the cry of my heart is I love you, Lord, and that sinister voice rises up and asks, Do you really, though? I can declare with complete assurance that yes, I do, and there is nothing that can sway me from that certainty.

Job’s love of God was not feigned or situational. He didn’t love God only when He blessed him; he didn’t serve God only when things were going his way. He accepted both good and adversity from the hand of God, understanding that though he might not see it, there was a purpose to it.

Through it all, it’s easy to forget Job was still human. He still hurt, felt loss, wept tears, cried out, prayed to God, appealed to his friends for a bit of compassion, and made peace with his own mortality. Job was not a man afraid of death. His only genuine fear was that God had set Himself against him, because he understood that if that had occurred, all was lost, and his fate was sealed. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.