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Today we look at one of the more insane pursuits of mankind: skydiving. Now, some of us have relatives who skydive, and you may even skydive yourself. They say that it’s really quite peaceful, just floating like a magic leaf out in the wild blue yonder. It’s probably something like the serenity you feel if you were, oh say, plumeting to a cataclysmic death.
And yet, there’s something about this form of mini-suicide that draws people back over and over again. What is it? The accomplishment of landing successful with only a broken femur? The unbridled joy of challenging Newton’s laws of gravity? Or is it the risk itself? Is it the simple joy of looking death in the face and saying “come and get it, you warthog faced buffoon?”
THE SHOW ME STATE OF BEING
It’s fairly common knowledge that risk and reward seem to go hand in hand. That’s the foundation of the stock market; if you can handle the risks, you can reap the rewards. Today, Job takes a similar approach to his questions for God. In verse 23, he openly challenges God to show him his offenses.
This verse uses three different words for sin. Depending on your translation, it may use words like “iniquity”, “failing”, “sin”, “offenses”, “wrongs”, or “transgression.” Whatever words it uses, the basic idea is one of increasing depravity. The first word means an accidental sin or slipup, the second is habitual sin, and the third is direct revolt or rebellion towards God. Job is saying he is willing to face all of his sins, no matter their egregiousness.
MIRROR MIRROR
Now, most of us would not be comfortable issuing that challenge to God. Could you look God in the face and say “show me my sin”? Would you want to see what He showed you? Could you look at your own failings and mistakes head on? Job has been driven to the end of his rope, and he is willing to face the horror of his own moral collapse just to confront God.
Today’s challenge is a dare: Could you follow Job’s example? Are you living with enough integrity that you could honestly ask God to show you your sin? For Job, the reward was the potential answer for his questions; for us, it might be the reward of closer walk with Jesus. Our intimacy can grow only when we’re willing to share everything with Him, including our hidden sins.
Can you take that jump?
