Look around … what needs doing?

Job 19:28-29
“If you say, ‘How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him,’ you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.” NIV

I found this verse yesterday morning, and began this post then, but, I was out of town, and the connectivity to the Internet was too challenging for me to complete the task.

The Message translates this verse, “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him, get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’  Forget it.  Start worrying about yourselves.  Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment, for judgment is most certainly on the way.” MSG

Here, Job is speaking to his friends, who all seem to be saying that if Job will just admit whatever it is that he has done wrong — whatever it is that has so incredibly offended God as to cause all of the hardships he is facing — Job will have a chance at redemption.

Job knows that he has not sinned against God.  And yet, he still finds himself in unbelievably difficult circumstances.

This verse, I think, is one of the most important of the entire book of Job.  And, it still rings true today.

We cannot spend our time worrying about the sins of others.  They are none of our business.  Instead, we have to focus on ourselves, on our own relationship to God.  What are we doing that we could do better?  What are we not doing that needs to be done in order to better advance the kingdom?

That’s what I’ll think about today.