Back on September 18th, I heard a sermon that I've wanted to relate here for some time, only it's just recently come back to my mind. I didn't make a note of it in my iPAQ like I should have or I'd have done this sooner.
I love it when an expositor can take a very small portion of Scripture and pull a tremendous amount out of it. And that was the case this day. The passage is a simple one; Job 31:35.
Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my mark.
Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, |
T hat my Prosecutor had written a book!
On the first several reads through that, there doesn't seem to be much there. But the title of the message was "Job's Desires, Our Delights" and when you read carefully what Job wanted, I found, as was pointed out in this message, that I had three things that Job desired in this passage!
First, he wanted someone to hear him. Jeremiah 33:3 tells me when I call to God he will answer me. How could He answer if He wasn't hearing me?
Second, he wanted the Almighty to answer him. From that same passage, I know that God will answer me.
The third thing he wanted was that God (his prosecutor) would write a book. God's given us His word in the Bible.
Job goes on in verse 36 to say surely he would carry it on his shoulder and bind it on him like a crown.
So if Job had a Bible, he pretty much wouldn't go anywhere without it. In fact, he'd carry it on his shoulder and bind it on him like a crown! Wow!
So if that's what Job wanted, and that's what I've got, why should I be ashamed to carry my Bible with me anywhere? And why shouldn't I carry it on my shoulder, and bind it on me like a crown?
Of course the answer to those questions are, I shouldn't, I should, and I should, in that order.
Anyway, I've wanted to post this for some time. It's one of the best sermons I've heard recently, well, that's not quite right, they're all good, but this one has more practical application than many, at least for me. And it has changed my life, and I do carry my Bible more often because of it, and I've been amused and amazed by people's reactions to that, especially where I work, but that may be another story.
By the way, the Bible I "carry on my shoulder" is a "real" Bible. It's paper and ink, and leather bound, and it's a constant reminder to me of who I am in Christ.
Nobody loves an electronic Bible more than I do, especially for word searches and looking up passage comparisons and things like that, and there's nothing like doing word searches in Laridian Bibles, but if I may quote Paul, here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (borrowed from 1 Timothy 1:15, NIV…) batteries die, and electronics fail, and I sit on PDA's and crack screens, and drop them and break them.
To my shame, I admit that I've dropped and sat on my "real" Bible as well, but you know what? I can open it up again and keep right on going, and I think that's an important thing to be able to do. There's something very different about the Bible. It really is sharper than any two edged sword, like Hebrews 4:12 says…
" For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
And here's something else: I've noticed that it's changed the way I behave myself. Try complaining in a restaurant when your Bible is on the table beside you and the waitress has noticed it, or try speaking poorly to someone who comes by your desk at work after they've seen your Bible lying there. It's a constant reminder of who I am in Christ, and one that I shouldn't be without. After all, Job wanted it but didn't have it. And if it was good enough for Job, who was called righteous in Ezekiel 14, verses 14 and 20, shouldn't it be good enough for me?
By A. Jay Sutton
