DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- GOD KNOWS US

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – GOD KNOWS US

" 'But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.' " (Job 23:10-12)

Job knew that he had walked before God and treasured His commandments. This was not just empty talk on Job's part. It was not bragging. It was based in reality. Job knew the integrity of his heart.

This was not just Job's assessment of his life. It was God's. Remember what God said about Job in the beginning of the Book? When He was talking to Satan about Job, God said, " 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?' " (Job 1:8). And again in chapter 2, God said to Satan, " 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is not like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.' " (Job 2:3).

When other people question the validity of your faith and your desire to live blameless and upright, to fear God and shun evil, be assured that God knows your heart. None of us are sinless. Only the Lord Jesus was sinless. Satan can accuse us because of our shortcomings. But God knows our hearts. Job said, "Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go" (Job 5:5b-6a). Again he said, "Does (God) not see my ways, and count my steps...Let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity" (Job 31:6). I can live upright before God with integrity.

"There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). Satan will condemn us, and other people may question our integrity and call us hypocrites. But we can live in the confidence that God knows that we want to live according to His way, and that we are holding fast to our integrity, and to come forth as gold.

God knows our hearts. We can live in that freedom.

Love, Dad