Job 31:1
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?”
A covenant, like a treaty, is an agreement between two parties that results in peace. Job realized that he was at war, not with others, but with himself. The battle that raged within him was for control of his thoughts. He came to realize, the only way to be victorious, was to be certain his eyes did not look at what would stir his lusts.
I find it interesting that Job was not a young man when he penned these thoughts. His children were grown and had children of their own, and yet Job still had to guard his eyes against looking at what was inappropriate, and what would lead to further sin.
Jesus expounded upon this same idea, exhorting us to “pluck out our eye,” if it leads us to sin. He was obviously speaking figuratively, and suggesting that perhaps it is time to take a more radical approach to guarding against sin.
We live in a day and age where we must implement the example of Job if we are going to remain pure in thought and action. Perhaps now would be a good time to memorize this verse and apply it to how you use your internet browser.
Pastor Jim
Although this verse is tucked away in a passage not well trodden, this portion of the text is fairly well-known. It is not uncommon to hear this verse quoted, even among those who have not chosen to surrender their lives to Christ. When donuts are on the table and we are about to indulge, we might hear someone say, “You know our bodies are the temple of the living God, we should not defile the temple.” While it is true, what we eat can have an effect upon how we feel, and thus distracts from what we are capable of accomplishing, that is not the primary message of this passage. Paul is talking about the danger of establishing relationships that will lead us astray. He wrote,
My phone currently contains over 900 photos. Each one reminds me of something from the past few years. Most are pictures of my family or some fun activity we did together. Whenever I travel, I find myself scrolling through those photos and remembering the times we spent together. Job has a similar experience, in the midst of his trial, he begins to look back at a time in his life when things were much better. He reminds himself of how things used to be and longs for those days to return. Looking back, especially in trying times, can be very helpful, but it is important how we look back.
A few years ago, I watched a very interesting story on the news. An armored vehicle, after leaving a local bank, had neglected to properly close the rear truck door. Upon making a turn, bags of money fell out of the truck and broke open on the street. People, seeing what had happened, went nuts, rushing into the street, picking up cash and shoving it into their pockets. In the midst of the chaos, a young boy grabbed a handful of coins and ran off. That night, he felt so guilty he could not sleep. The next day at school, the little boy dropped eighty-five cents on his teacher’s desk and told her about the event. She, wanting to encourage him for doing the right thing, contacted the bank to arrange for the return of the money. Since more than $200,000 was lost that day, and only eighty-five cents returned, the bank wanted to honor this young man and asked him to come to the bank to receive an award. When the mayor of the city heard of his deed, he also wanted to honor the child with a public gathering. Later, word reached the executives at Disney, who decided to honor the young man. They invited him, and his whole class, to Disney World; all expenses paid. What a remarkable picture of grace. One young man took what did not belong to him and gave it back to the rightful owners, and in return, was richly honored and showered with blessings.
Most of us understand there is certain speech that is ungodly, and therefore unacceptable. We realize gossip, backbiting, coarse jesting and profanity should never proceed from the mouth of a follower of Christ. Yet, we also realize that at times we are all guilty of this, in one way or another. When we do fail, we usually have an excuse for it. We used profanity because the situation called for it, or our emotions got the best of us. We talk about a person behind their back because we feel the need to “get it off our chest”, or vent our frustrations. I think we might be able to learn a little something from Job.
Job is considered to be the oldest book in the Bible. It may have been written as many as four thousand years ago. Job declares, during his day, men were involved in mining the earth in search of precious stones. He refers to successful expeditions in search of silver, gold, copper, iron and sapphire. No doubt, great wealth and power came as a result of their findings. Yet, with all of man’s endeavors, Job declares they had failed to find the source of true wisdom. It cannot be located in the depths of the earth, or be purchased for the price of gold.
Righteousness is a biblical word that speaks of standing before God. A person who is righteous is one who has met God’s standards, is living pleasing to Him now, and will be accepted into heaven when this life comes to an end. When it comes to views of righteousness there seems to be contrasting positions. Some people, like the Pharisees of old, consider themselves to be righteous because of their heritage or accomplishments. They believe they will be accepted because they are inherently good. They neglect to fully understand the far reaching effects of sin or the holiness of God. Paul wrote,
A few years ago we purchased a pool table for the kids as a Christmas gift. Because of the size of the table it was not practical to wrap, so we set it up in the middle of the living room, threw a table-cloth over it and set our breakfast on it. Our disguise worked. The kids went about the morning without even noticing there was a huge gift right under their noses.
After describing the power of God in His acts of creation, Job concludes, everything he has ever known about God is but a glimpse of what He is truly like.
Have you ever looked around at the circumstances you are facing and wondered what God is doing in your life? Why it is that you are facing these particular trials, while someone else seems to be immune to them. The answer to that question is tucked away in this verse. Paul writes,
Jim Gallagher 