Integrity

Today’s thought is inspired by comments my pastor made in a sermon this weekend.

Job 2:3 (NKJV) Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”

God’s testimony of Job was that, although He was moved to trouble him without cause, Job continued to maintain his integrity. Job, remember, had just lost everything in the beginning of a trial that would test his very faith in God. But Job responded to the onset of his trial by worshipping God. What was intended to drive him away from God instead brought him closer to him.

We will experience trials in our life, although few people will experience the same degree of suffering, but whether receiving good at the hand of God or evil, let us persist in our worship response to him. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

What better blessing could be had than a testimony from God Himself that we maintained our integrity before Him. If God, who sees all and knows all, can say of us that we maintained our integrity in the face of all adversity, then all will be well in the end. More than anything else in the world, I want this testimony with God. When my journey through this life is completed, I want to hear His sweet words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant . . . enter in to the joy of the Lord.”