In Job, chapter thirty-one, verses one through thirty-four, Job reviewed his firm spiritual integrity, adherence to God and His ways, and goodness to others. Job’s declarations about God’s redemptive work in him embraced every aspect of life. He spoke of his innocence in the sins of the heart, including sexual lust and impure thoughts in verses one through four, lying and cheating for gain in verses five through eight, and marital infidelity from verses nine to twelve. Job declared his just treatment of workers from verses thirteen through fifteen and his care for those in need in verses sixteen to twenty-three. He maintained that he was free from covetousness in verses twenty-four to twenty-five, liberty from idolatry in verses twenty-six through twenty-eight, free from revenge in verses twenty-nine to thirty-two, and liberty from hypocrisy in verses thirty-three through thirty-four.
The moral character and purity of heart and life described here serve as a splendid example for every believer. The godly life that Job lived before the new covenant can be abundantly experienced by all who believe in Christ through the saving power of His death and resurrection, as in Romans eight, verses one through seventeen, and Galatians two, verses twenty, accordingly.
The example of Job in this section is for believers to gain from and be aware of living for God and to be free from the spirit of anger, lust, and greed. All of these come from within the heart and mind. What we see, what we hear, and what we confess with our mouths will determine that. These are the three areas the devil uses to keep the people of God down and entangle their lives so that they are not able to excel and receive what God destined their lives to experience. Job overcame those areas even when he had abundance at the beginning before the grueling suffering that he went through.
Job’s heart at the time was his concern for the family. Chapter one, verse five, proves his mentality at the time. “And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.” The servant of God had his heart not on his riches, not on other women, nor mad about something but on his children. That is where Job’s heart and mind were on. Job made a covenant with his eyes because they are the window to the heart. What is your heart and mind on today?
Matthew six, verse twenty-one, and Luke twelve, verse thirty-four, exactly state, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The things we hold dear or prized possessions we consider most precious to us. We all know what they are. Hopefully, God is ahead of all that, and then our loved ones to follow.