Taking Inventory
Job 31
November 17, 2024
Pastor Mark Fuller
Maybe it’s time for you to take inventory as well.
TAKE AN HONEST, HOLY SPIRIT-LED LOOK AT YOURSELF
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 26:2
Test me, Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind
USE GOD’S WISDOM, NOT COMMON SENSE
DON’T LET ANY AREA GO UNCHECKED
Thought Life
Job 31:1-4 (NIV)
1 “I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a young woman.
2 For what is our lot from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?
4 Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?
Integrity
Job 31:5-8 (ESV)
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
Marriage
Job 31:9-12 (NIV)
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.
11 For that would have been wicked,
a sin to be judged.
12 It is a fire that burns to Destruction;
it would have uprooted my harvest.
Work
Job 31:13-15 (NIV)
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me,
14 what will I do when God confronts me?
What will I answer when called to account?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Generosity & Compassion
Job 31:16-23 (Message)
16-18 “Have I ignored the needs of the poor,
turned my back on the indigent,
Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face
while they languished?
Wasn’t my home always open to them?
Weren’t they always welcome at my table?
19-20 “Have I ever left a poor family shivering in the cold
when they had no warm clothes?
Didn’t the poor bless me when they saw me coming,
knowing I’d brought coats from my closet?
21-23 “If I’ve ever used my strength and influence
to take advantage of the unfortunate,
Go ahead, break both my arms,
cut off all my fingers!
The fear of God has kept me from these things—
how else could I ever face him?
Finances
Job 31:24-25 (NIV)
24 “If I have put my trust in gold
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the fortune my hands had gained,
No other gods
Job 31:26-28 (Message)
Was I ever so awed by the sun’s brilliance
and moved by the moon’s beauty
That I let myself become seduced by them
and worshiped them on the sly?
If so, I would deserve the worst of punishments,
for I would be betraying God himself.
Treatment of enemies
Job 31:29-30 (Message)
“Did I ever gloat over my enemy’s ruin?
Or get excited over my rival’s bad luck?
No, I never said a word of detraction,
never cursed them, even under my breath.
schadenfreude
Hospitality toward the outsider
Job 31:31-32 (Message)
“Didn’t those who worked for me say,
‘He fed us well. There were always second helpings’?
And no stranger ever had to spend a night in the street;
my doors were always open to travelers.
Stewardship of the earth
Job 31:38-40 (NIV)
38 “if my land cries out against me
and all its furrows are wet with tears,
39 if I have devoured its yield without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,
40 then let briers come up instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
APPLICATION: HAVE YOU TAKEN INVENTORY RECENTLY?
