Job 27:6-8 (ESV)

I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;

my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

“Let my enemy be as the wicked,

and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,

when God takes away his life?”

Job 28:28 (ESV)

And he said to man,

“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.”

In Job 27-28 Job argues the value of maintaining his integrity based on two premises. The first is that the prosperity of the wicked will not last. Chapter 27 builds that part of the argument. “What is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off?” (Job 27:8). He had argued earlier that life was unjust because the virtuous experienced suffering and loss, while the wicked prospered. But that is the narrow perspective. Here Job zooms out for a broader perspective. Here he realizes that the wicked never prosper forever. Death is the end of their prosperity. No one grieves their loss. The wealth they left behind is lost. In the long run, the wicked never prosper. Their wealth, comfort, and ease is short-lived. Taking a big picture view of life from an eternal perspective changes everything. It reminds me of the old chorus by Alfred B. Smith.

With eternity's values in view, Lord.
With eternity's values in view;
May I do each day's work for Jesus
With eternity's values in view.

Job’s first premise is that an eternal perspective changes everything. The prosperity of the wicked will not last. His integrity will be rewarded in the end. His second premise is that wisdom is found only in fearing God, and that understanding leads to turning away from evil. He argues that man has contrived ways to explore parts of the earth that no other creature has explored or seen, yet we have not found wisdom. We have collected the wealth of precious stones, gold, coral, and pearls, yet none of it can purchase wisdom. No matter how much wealth we acquire, nor how deep we explore, the place where wisdom is hidden will never be found. Only God knows that place. Wisdom cannot be purchased nor discovered. It is found in fearing God.

Because an eternal perspective on life changes everything, and wisdom is found only in God, therefore no matter what injustices we experience, there is value in maintaining our integrity. The Grass Roots recorded a song entitled Live For Today back in 1967. The song contained some wisdom, but it’s conclusion was faulty. Here are some of the lyrics:

We were never meant to worry
The way that people do

That part of the song is true, but their conclusion is faulty.

And I don't mean to hurry
As long as I'm with you

We'll take it nice and easy
And use my simple plan
You'll be my lovin' woman
I'll be your lovin' man

We'll take the most from living
Have pleasure while we can
(Two, three, four!)

Sha la la la la la live for today
Sha la la la la la live for today
And don't worry 'bout tomorrow, hey
Sha la la la la la live for today (live for today)

Their answer to the worries of life was to narrow their view even further. If a perspective that looks to tomorrow is filled with worry and fear, then we should only be concerned about the moment. That is a philosophy of life that is widely perpetuated today. I heard that sentiment repeated several times just last night. The solution to the problems of life is to ignore them and live only for the moment without thinking about the consequences. That sounds right when only two options are presented, worry or live for the moment. But there is a third option; we can take a broader perspective. When we zoom out to an eternal perspective instead of zooming in to a live for the moment perspective we find two truths. First, there is no reason to worry. Life is only a small part of eternity. Second, there is no reason to abandon our integrity. Eternity is coming, and wisdom is found in God, not in the moment. With an eternal perspective we can make the most of every moment knowing that we will one day see the God of all wisdom and understanding.

So, here are our choices: We can live with eternities values in view. We can live for the moment. We can live worrying about the future. I’ll take option one. How will you live?