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JOB'S JOBS 2--SEW 'EM IN A DEEP WET BAG!

Another of JOB'S JOBS for the happy, hurting, and heroic is found in Job chapter 14. Old Testament scholars believe these verses were penned before the Creation account in Genesis 1-2. Before the first Mom blamed herself that her children were hostile instead of harmonious, the solution was written. Before the first Dad worried about his reputation more than his child's crime, the heavenly Father prescribed a heart cure. Before the first couple blamed each other instead of saying, "I'm sorry," a divine secret for bliss was on-record! Before the first "I wish I had...," "I sure got that wrong...," "I shouldn't, but can't help it," "How did I ever fall all the way to adultery?" Job's narrative promised a clear conscience. God was ready to rescue us before we even knew we needed Him! Here's the ancient answer in Job 14:17--

"My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and Thou sewest up mine iniquity." (kJV) "My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag." (CSB) "You will seal up my crime in a bag and cover over my iniquity." (CJB)

Enticing at first, afterwards, sins and guilt stink! Molding in a closet corner of your "life house," eventually, sheet rock sags, studs rot, and finally the roof falls in! JOB'S JOBS 2 is "Bag it up! Sew the top shut! Get that out of there!! Sniff-testing for life de-terioration is recommended in Job 13:23--

"How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin." (NRSV)

Give God permission to place His hand on your shoulder whenever you're about to step off His path.

"Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?" (Job 15:11, NRSV)

About sins, Micah goes even further than Job's "Bag 'em up!" Mi-cah describes God's irretrievable disposal!

"Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression?... You will cast all our sins INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA." (Micah 7:18-19, NRSV)

When we let God have our sins, whether self-blame or legiti-mate failures to honor His moral law (Ten Command-ments), He doesn't mess around with our bio-hazardous

contagion. He really takes care of it! He really gets rid of it! HE REALLY FOR-GIVES YOU!!

In the western Pa-cific Ocean, east of the Mariana Islands, Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world’s oceans. It is a mark of crescent shape in the Earth's crust, which is considered 1,585 miles long and 43 miles wide. The maximum found depth level of Mariana Trench is 6.2 miles at a small slot-shaped valley in its floor identified as the Challenger Deep. It is also considered one of the deepest parts on earth. It is said if Mount Everest was dropped into the trench at this point, its peak would still be 1 mile underwater!

In those dark depths, scary creatures seen nowhere else lurk as fitting companions in the symbolic final resting place for our most terrifying sins.

The second of JOB'S JOBS or practical steps to living life with God-benefits is to let God have our sins and "Sew 'em in a deep wet bag!" Why not bow your head or get on your knees right now? I have.