MAINTAINING INTEGRITY

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

“As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Far be it from me that I should say you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.”

“May my enemy be like the wicked, and he who rises up against me like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he may gain much, if God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?”

“I will teach you about the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal. Surely all of you have seen it; why then do you behave with complete nonsense?”

“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:  If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. Those who survive him shall be buried in death, and their widows shall not weep, though he heaps up silver like dust, and piles up clothing like clay—he may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. He builds his house like a moth, like a booth which a watchman makes. The rich man will lie down, but not be gathered up; he opens his eyes, and he is no more. Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls against him and does not spare; he flees desperately from its power. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.”

Job 27:1-23 (NKJV)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Chapter 27 opens, we finds Job continuing his discourse. He spends much of his time striking out at the wicked, acknowledging an understanding that God doesn’t tolerate ungodly, sinful behavior. His stances is interesting in that it has changed from earlier in the book where Job felt that the wicked got off easy while the righteous suffered, implying that God was unjust. Sometimes difficult circumstances in life alter behavior and opinions, even with the most righteous people. The good news is that the righteous always have a holy reference point to return to and I get a sense that this is happening to Job the longer this book goes on.

In fact, in the opening verses, we find Job affirming where he planned to draw the line in regard to his attitude during his suffering. Look at what Job proclaims in the first six verses:

“As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Far be it from me that I should say you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.”

Job’s words are powerful and his stance on integrity is the same stance we need to adopt. For Job could lose almost everything – his possessions, his children and his health – but one thing he refused to lose was his integrity. For as long as God would grant him life, Job vowed to “hold fast” to righteousness, refuse to “speak wickedness”, and never “utter deceit”.  

Could you and I say and do likewise?

God would expect it.

As we look in His word, we find multiple references to integrity. Here are three from the Book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom penned by Solomon:

1. “The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves. Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.”  Proverbs 13:5-6 (NIV)

Seeking God daily and asking Him to lead us into righteousness results in us staying clear of sin. And the more we stay connected to God, the more we come to hate sin as much as He does.

I distinctly remember a time in my life where I used profanity. In the Navy, I was surrounded by it and became very versed in all the words and how to use them. I was more plugged into the world than I was the Lord. But then something awesome happened. I was born again and became a new creation, reconnecting with God and His righteousness. Suddenly I realized that the words I was speaking were an abomination to the Lord, evil in His sight. And so I stopped using profanity and before long, I hated to hear the very words I used to easily utter. Through the righteousness that was taking root and growing within me, I began to hate falsehood and sin, just as God did.

2. The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.

  Proverbs 11:3 (NKJV)

Jesus said this toward the conclusion of His Sermon on the Mount:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

The road that leads to life – proper Christian living today and eternal life when this life ends – is narrow and hard to stay on without a proper guide. Consider righteousness your GPS, always gauging where you are and directing where to go next to stay on the proper course as you head toward your ultimate destination – life forever with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior.

Turn away from righteousness and opt for perverse, sinful living and you will find yourself walking the broad road to destruction.

Which road are you on? And more importantly, which road will you now choose to travel?

I would choose carefully. A person of integrity will always choose the narrow road.

3. Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.  Proverbs 10:9 (NIV)

When I was growing up, my parents would always tell me to not try and sneak around thinking I would get away with anything because what was done in the dark would be brought to light. Of course, I – like so many other kids growing up – thought they were crazy. But it didn’t take long for me to discover that they spoke with great wisdom. It seemed that no matter how I thought I had schemed flawlessly, something would always happen to foil my plan and I wound up in trouble. Now that I am aware of this proverb, I know that God was behind every revelation because He didn’t want me to be walking the crooked path. I learned that as long as I walked in honesty and truth, then I had nothing to worry about for I walked securely on God’s narrow path of righteousness.

Indeed, there is little doubt that God’s word calls us to maintain integrity. And in closing, we have no better role model than Jesus, the One we are to conform ourselves to in the Christian walk. Consider these words spoken about Him by a group of Pharisees and Herodians who were sent to speak to Jesus. Although the motive they came with in their hearts was evil, their words about Jesus’ character couldn’t have been truer:

“They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that You are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because You pay no attention to who they are; but You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” Mark 12:14

Indeed, Jesus was the purest example of integrity we have to base our lives after. No other man or woman was more perfectly righteous in every action, word or thought. Note how Jesus was seen as a “man of integrity”:

1. He wasn’t swayed by others.

People fail in integrity often by being adversely influenced by the people around them. A person of truth stands firm on that truth, even if everyone else refuses to do so. Sometimes this means you need to stand alone for the cause of what is right. Jesus was the perfect example of someone who did just that and showed us how to do likewise. To be people of integrity, we must follow His lead.

2. He taught the way of God in accordance with the truth.

Too many people want to shape the word of God to meet their desires, needs and motives – and in doing so, they bend and twist the truth. God’s perfect will and way is perfectly written and communicated to us through His perfect word. It’s as simple as that. There is no wiggle room. There is no negotiation. There is only the expectation that we comply in obedience and teach others to do likewise. Jesus did just that and as Christians, we are to do likewise.

Job swore allegiance to integrity. Jesus showed us exactly how it can be done. Now it’s up to us to make it happen in our own lives.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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