Job 11:13-16
“If you direct your heart rightly, you will stretch out your hands toward him. If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and do not let wickedness reside in your tents. Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure, and will not fear. You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
Okay, I know Zophar was the youngest of the men who came to judge (or help?) Job. He was full of zeal and advised Job repent of whatever he must have done to call down God’s wrath. He must have done something, right? Actually, as we know, Job was not at fault.
But these are powerful lines, and I think they still speak to us of God’s forgiveness and the glorious way it can feel to be right with God, to lift up our faces without blemish, to remember whatever bad things we may have done but are no longer doing as only a distant echo. What relief!
We are in difficult times now. Perhaps it’s a good time to pray over and take action against behaviors we know we should change, and to reach out for help if we need it.
Holy Father, forgive me. Please shine your light into the dark corners of my life and sweep them clean. Give me the courage to make the changes I need to make, to put sin away from me, and to desire only you. In Christ Jesus’ name. Amen