THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

"let God weigh me in accurate scales,

and He will recognize my integrity." (Job 31:6 HCSB)

In 1615, Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote that "the proof of the pudding is the eating." It is an expression meaning "results are what count; the quality of something can only be judged by the evidence." The Bible says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works." (James 2:18 HCSB)

Job was condemned by his "comforters." Their reasoning was, "God is good. God punishes sin. Job is suffering. He is being punished by God. Job is a sinner who deserves what he gets." Satan is like a prosecuting attorney. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are summoned to testify against him. God is the judge.

As the courtroom drama unfolds, there are arguments and rebuttals. Job pleads for a defense attorney and none appears. "I wish that someone might arbitrate between a man and God just as a man [pleads] for his friend." (Job 16:21 HCSB) So, it is up to Job to make a defense--and in his final argument he serves up, "the proof of the pudding."

Others had spoken well of him: "When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square, the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet. City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with [their] hands. The noblemen's voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me." (Job 29:7-11 HCSB)

He had helped the helpless: "For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger. I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth." (Job 29:12-17 HCSB) "If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow's eyes go blind, if I have eaten my few crumbs alone without letting the fatherless eat any of it--for from my youth, I raised him as [his] father, and since the day I was born I guided the widow--if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing or a needy person without a cloak, if he did not bless m while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep, if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child when I saw that I had support in the [city] gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my back, and my arm be pulled from its socket." (Job 31:16-22 HCSB)

He grieved over the suffering of others: "Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?" (Job 30:25 HCSB)

He recognized the danger of sexual sin and scrupulously shunned it: "I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman? If my step has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or impurity has stained my hands, let someone else eat what I have sown, and let my crops be uprooted. If my heart has been seduced by [my neighbor's] wife or I have lurked at his door, let my own wife grind [grain] for another man, and let other men sleep with her. For that would be a disgrace; it would be a crime deserving punishment. For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon; it would destroy my entire harvest." (Job 31:1, 7-12 HCSB)

He was just in dealing with his employees: "If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants when they made a complaint against me, what could I do when God stands up [to judge]? How should I answer Him when He calls [me] to account? Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same God form us both in the womb?" (Job 31:13-15 HCSB)

He was free from idolatrous materialism: "If I placed my confidence in gold or called fine gold my trust, if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great or because my own hand has acquired [so] much, if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and I threw them a kiss, this would also be a crime deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above." (Job 31:24-28 HCSB)

He did not hate his enemies: "Have I rejoiced over my enemy's distress, or become excited when trouble came his way? I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse." (Job 31:29, 30 HCSB)

He practiced hospitality: "Haven't the members of my household said, 'Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job's table?' No stranger had to spend the night on the street, for I opened my door to the traveler." (Job 31:31, 32 HCSB)

He confessed his sin when needed and did not practice self-righteous hypocrisy: "Have I covered my transgressions as others do by hiding my guilt in my heart, because I greatly feared the crowds, and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so I grew silent and would not go outside?" (Job 31:33, 34 HCSB)

The proof of the pudding is the eating--Job's profession was matched by his performance. We are saved by faith alone, but faith that saves is never alone.

If you were on trial for being a Christian, is there enough evidence to convict you?