Job 10:14

To watch me, if I sin,

   To not let me escape my guilt.

The advertising of guilty pleasures and escapes from reality go over well with the world around us. The promise that what happens somewhere else stays somewhere else entice people to do things they should not. Job is calling out the omnipresence of God and showing there is no escape from God knowing what you have done. As the Apostle Paul tells us, we are to take every thought captive; as Christ told us, to even think it is to sin.

Three thoughts come in to play in this first stitch. The first is the “if I sin” or “when I sin” or “if I offended”. I used the if not to downplay the fact that it really is more when, but because Job is talking about the specifics of being watched and what happens afterwards. The second is “to watch me if I sin” or “If I sin you watch me”. I led with watch first as I believe it is more important, and it leading, promotes it. The third is whether He “watches” me, or “marks” me, or “never over looks it”. I believe the main point is that He never overlooks it, but I think His watching is sufficient for the meaning to be clear and allow for more depth to be pulled out as well.

“Not let me escape” was also “not acquit me” or “not clear me”. I believe the acquit and clear options were selected based on missing the point that the next phrase is about punishment and not the sin. “My guilt” was also “my iniquity”, “my offense”, or “my crime”. But I believe the real meaning was “punishment”. God watches to make sure Job is punished for his sin. Not in that He is not saved from eternal death, but that his actions have consequences, and Job cannot run around sinning without having to deal with the consequences of them.

In spiritual terms, the punishment or consequence for sin is eternal death and separation from God. But in worldly terms, our sins have consequences that God has laid out in some form or fashion that impact us either physically, mentally, or both. When a murderer gets away with it, he still carries the scars on his mind with him. When someone looks at porn alone, they still warp how well they interact with others. The same with food or not helping others or all our other instances of missing the mark.

I spent many years admiring Porsches in magazine articles, magazine advertisements, tv shows, novels, and everywhere else there was some promoting being done. I caught the bug and wanted one. I never really expected to have one, but once it became a reality, I understood why everyone gushed about it. Not that my Civics were not great, but everything about the 911 was just better. I do not know that a Ferrari or an Aston Martin or some other “foreign exotic” is not just as good a the 911, but I always felt the 911’s “better” was also much more affordable than most of its competition. And isn’t that what great engineering is about, doing better for less?

God has given us knowledge of His characteristics to allow us to do better with less. When we hit the mark, we do not suffer negative consequences. When we do right, we do not spend effort hiding what we have done. When we are honest, we do not have to remember what lie we told. God is omniscient, omnipresent, and oh so much more, and once we realize it, we can use it to our benefit.

(Written 12/17/22, Posted 1/6/23, Job 222)