Job 14:3

Is it upon such a one that you fix your eyes?

   Bring all to judgement before you?

 

The world is full of differences of opinion. There has been a visible intolerance in baseball for unacceptable behavior in areas like treatment of women or gambling, but in the mainstream of America men who beat women are often ignored and gambling is only bad if you bet against your team that you play on. I would think in baseball, as in stocks, betting on your own team to win would be acceptable. But I suppose that is too hard to track or something.

‘Fix’ was also ‘open’, ‘cast’ or ‘keep’ and ‘eyes’ was also ‘gaze’ and ‘watch’. There were also a lot of ‘poetic’ differences in word order.

‘Bring’ was also ‘summon’. ‘All’ was also ‘me (Job)’ or ‘him (man)’. ‘Judgement’ was also ‘go to law (or court)’. ‘Before’ was also ‘with’ and oddly ‘against’. I took the broadest route I could to the stitch.

I believe that part of our sin nature is to build up others to hero status so that we can both aspire to do better and yet fall well short anyway. My mind goes to one promising major leaguer who was young, rich, and had it all, yet he paid for sex with a minor according to the claims. His baseball life is over, his money is gone, and yet if he had stayed in obscurity, he and the girl probably could have gotten married and no one would care. Part of historical cultures is that girls are married as soon as they are capable of bearing kids, but today’s rules say they must be 18 no matter what. Big difference of opinion.

Job is asking God why He cares so much about individual men who have short, troubled lives and why He plans to judge us all for what we do? As very few of us care about a random ant, Job is asking why he is being punished by one so great. Much of the world believes either that God does not exist or in gods that have limited or made-up power. Even those who believe in God often get it wrong or try to put Him in a box. The God I believe in is great enough to create the entire universe and yet focus on every human who ever lived as if they were the only thing that mattered in the universe. Big difference of opinion.

The novel I am reading right now has one character who is a con artist and another who is a trained assassin. I find it hard to believe that either of these characters is built on a platform of a God-fearing Christian. Yet one believes their actions are acceptable to correct a wrong and the other believes their actions are acceptable because someone else picks who to target to kill. Stealing (by a con artist) is covered by one of the Ten Commandments and murder (by an assassin) is one of the others. If God tells us these things are wrong, how can we believe in Him and do otherwise? But we all deny Him in some form or fashion. Big difference of opinion.

So who gets to set what is right? A person who acts in self-interest or God who created it all in the first place? I know who I would vote for, but I am sure I do not get a vote. But hey, at least I can vote between an old white man and a still older than me mixed-race woman, both of which descriptions can be found to have negative connotations with at least someone. I have opinions built on my sin nature, but I seek to have better opinions based on what God reveals to me through our relationship. How did you get the opinions on which you base your action?

Written 8/3/24, Posted 8/30/24, Job 314