Job 31 and Sins

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Job 31 (NLT)

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I know that I am supposed to confess my sins and God will forgive me, but sometimes it's hard for me to recognize what my sins are. Of course it's easy to recognize obvious sins, such as murder, adultery, etc, etc... but let's be honest, there are less obvious sins that are committed much more often. Since I don't go around committing murder or adultery, it can be hard for me to see my sins. But today God used Job 31 to point out many of the less obvious sins to me.

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Job 31:1
"I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look with lust at a young woman."

Lust is one of the more well-known sins. It's not right to act on or entertain sexual desires when outside of a marriage. This also means looking at pornography. I have a feeling this is a sin that affects men more so than women, but that's not always the case.

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Job 31:5
"Have I lied to anyone
or deceived anyone?"

I think most people consider lying a sin, but may not consider little white lies or omissions as lies.
But lying is lying, period. It doesn't matter how serious or big of a lie it is. Purposely leaving out or avoiding information can be considered lying, even if every word that comes out of your mouth is truth. This is where it gets tricky, and it's easy to convince yourself that you're not lying.

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Job 31:16-17
"Have I refused to help the poor,
or crushed the hopes of widows?
Have I been stingy with my food
and refused to share it with orphans?"

Ok, these things are definitely easy to overlook as sins. Sins aren't always things that I have done, they can also be things that I haven't done. Basically, if I walk past a homeless person and turn my head the other way, instead of offering help, I am sinning. Ignoring the needy can be so easy to do sometimes... especially if I am so wrapped up in my own agenda. I should be more aware and more focused on other people.

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Job 31:24-25
"Have I put my trust in money
or felt secure because of my gold?
Have I gloated about my wealth
and all that I own?"

It's a sin to put my trust in my material possessions or to be prideful for the things I own. I need to remember (and act accordingly) that everything that I own is actually God's. Basically, He's lending it to me to use while I'm on this earth, but He can take it away at any time. I need to find my security in God and His Son who saves me for eternity.

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Job 31:29
"Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,
or become excited when harm came their way?"

How easy is it to want revenge against someone who has wronged me and treated me unfairly? Or to think that they deserve it when something bad happens to them? Probably the easiest way for me to sin in this way is when I'm driving. If someone cuts me off or if someone speeds past me, it's really easy to automatically wish there was a police officer near by to pull them over. Since this is a sin that I've made myself aware of in the past, I really try not to revert to that kind of thinking, but sometimes it's hard to stop what automatically pops into my head. Instead of wishing they would get caught, now I try to pray for their safety.

Genesis 19 and 21

Genesis 19 (NLT)

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19:15-17; 26

"¹⁵At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. 'Hurry,' they said to Lot. 'Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!' ¹⁶When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful. ¹⁷When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, 'Run for your lives! And don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!'"

^"26But Lot's wife looked back as she was folowing behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt."

The Lord showed such great mercy towards Lot and his family. He sent angels to tell Lot to take his family and leave Sodom, so they wouldn't be destroyed along with the city. Then when they didn't listen, the angels literally pulled Lot and his family to safety. (I wonder how many times God has done this same thing for me...). Once they were out of the city, one of the angels told them to run and not look back at the city. Sodom was horribly evil, and God wanted them to turn completely away from the evil. I think God is telling me to do this same thing. When He rescues me from my sins, He wants me to turn completely away from them. He doesn't want me to dwell on them and long for them. He wants me to choose Him completely. I can't choose God and long for sin at the same time. When Lot's wife looked back at Sodom, God destroyed her. God is showing me that if I choose sin over Him, I will ultimately be destroyed.

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19:4-8

"⁴But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. ⁵They shouted to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!' ⁶So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. ⁷'Please, my brothers,' he begged, 'don't do such a wicked thing. Look, I have two vigin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.'"

19:30-35

"³⁰Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. ³¹One day the older daughter said to her sister, 'There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can't get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to hve children. ³²Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.' ³³So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again. ³⁴The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, 'I had sex with our father last night. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.' ³⁵So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again."

These verses show how the evil of Sodom rubbed off on Lot and his family. The men of Sodom wanted to rape the men (angels) who were staying at Lot's house. Lot was doing the right thing in protecting his guests from these sinful men, but he was willing to give up his daughters' purity to do so. There had to have been a better way to handle it. He was so accustomed to the evil ways of Sodom, that he wasn't able to see clearly. He didn't see anything wrong with offering his daughters to the men.

Later on (after they had been rescued and Sodom had been destroyed) Lot's daughters became desperate to preserve their family line. They devised a plan to get their father drunk and sleep with him in order to have children. They were able to get Lot so drunk that he didn't even know that his daughters had sex with him. This shows poor judgement on everyone's part. They had all been corrupted by Sodom's evil. The daughters were able to devise this plan and didn't appear to find anything wrong with it. Lot allowed himself to become so drunk that he wasn't aware of what was going on.

It's so easy to let evil creep into our hearts. It starts by just being around it. Next, we become accepting of it and don't see anything wrong with it. Last, we act on it. I need to keep myself sharp and remember that sin is not okay. I need to remove myself from situations in which sin is likely to rub off on me.

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Genesis 21:1-7 (NLT)

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21:1-2

"¹The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. ²She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would."

God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would give birth to a son. They were both past the age of having children, so they struggled with their faith that God would provide. Abraham was 100 years old when their son was born. I can understand how it was hard for them to believe they could have a child at this age, but God promised them on several occasions that it would happen. And He delivered, just as He said He would. God always follows through on His promises. Why is that so hard to believe sometimes? I need to have faith and trust that God knows what He is doing.

Amos 5

Amos 5 (NLT)

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Verse 14
"Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven's Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed."

This verse seems simple enough, but I think it has a lot of information in few words. Not only am I told to do what is good, but I'm told to run from evil. This seems pretty extreme, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Evil can be very cunning and persuasive. It's easy to get pulled in without even realizing it. It's also easy to think that we can be around evil and still resist its temptations, which may be true some of the time. However, we're all human and we have been born to sinful nature. Satan knows this, and he knows how to use it against us. It seems to me that God doesn't even want us to take the chance of getting sucked in. Turn, and run from evil!!

This verse also states that you should do these things "so that you may live." As simple as those few words seem, they speak volumes to me. This tells me that if I don't turn from evil... if I let it live inside of me... if I willingly take part in sinful deeds... etc, etc, etc... I am DEAD. Whoa. Extreme? Maybe. But God makes it clear that we are to turn to Him and REPENT of our sins in order to be saved. I can't really live for God and love Him and still choose to live in sin. Sure, I may slip up (because I'm human, and I'm destined to sin no matter how hard I try not to), but God is just asking that I acknowledge that I messed up, ask him to forgive me, and try my hardest to turn away from my sins. Now that doesn't sound so extreme. Even more, I know that if I do this, "God will be your (my) helper." He will help me. It's great news to me that I don't have to do this on my own (because I would surely fail)! I am so thankful that God has allowed me to truly LIVE!!! (If you haven't experienced life through God, you are missing out!!!!)

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Verses 21-24

"I hate all your show and pretense--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living."

The Israelites were living horribly sinful lives apart from God, but they were acting like they were religious. Sadly, this happens way too often. God is telling the Israelites (and us!!!) that he doesn't want a big show of fake religious ceremonies and such. He doesn't want me to go to church on Sundays and live a life apart from Him the rest of the week. He doesn't want me to make sacrifices and sing hymns and praise Him if it's all an act. He wants me to truly turn to him and live a life that is pleasing to him.