Job 12:24-25

24 He taketh away [cuwr] the heart [leb] of the chief [ro'sh] of the people [`am] of the earth ['erets], and causeth them to wander [ta`ah] in a wilderness [tohuw] where there is no way [derek].

25 They grope [mashash] in the dark [choshek] without light ['owr], and he maketh them to stagger [ta`ah] like a drunken [shikkowr] man. KJV-Interlinear

24 'He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth's people, And makes them wander in a pathless waste. 25 'They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man. NASB

As we come to the close of chapter twelve, we should note several things. No matter what you might think of life, of God, of Christ, or of Bible doctrine, if you are not actively functioning within your spiritual life, as it is defined by the Bible (not as you happen to define it) then you are on a crash and burn course for self destruction.

God controls history. More specifically, Jesus Christ controls history. And, there is not one thing you can do to change His plan for humanity and all of creation.

Next, Job is in excruciating agony. We have already studied in detail, the circumstances of his physical and mental condition. And yet despite his condition, he can come up with the most phenomenal, organized, and well articulated statements regarding not only life, but principles of truth. Principles, which in our world of today's advanced technology, and libraries, and higher education, and such, most folks can't seem to grasp.

And Job lived somewhere around 4500 years ago, when all of Hollywood seems to think that cavemen and blue-eyed blondes grunted their way across the continents in search of fire. Or something like that.

Not so.

Job lived just a hand full of generations following the flood, and most of those older generations of people were still alive.

In those earliest of ages, views of God and truth, prevailed, and by the conversation between Job and his friends, these views were common knowledge.

Again, in our current day, it is amazing just how much silliness prevails on the airwaves, and just how little doctrine exists in this world. One wonders just how humanity can survive in his present blinded state.

Isa. 59:10

10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. NASB

But then most of humanity does not believe that they are blind. One recent visit of a congress woman to Syria, demonstrates her scorn for Christianity and her honoring Islam by wearing a scarf over her head. Islam being one of the worst religions to ever exist. While Iran takes hostages and releases them in a public relations game, which the news media eats up like a puppy eating treats.

What it that principle we keep on repeating? In this universe there are only two opinions, Gods truth and everything else.

God gives truth freely, but when it is rejected, then He withdraws truth and that leaves man with the thick fog of lies with which to guide himself through life.

You have probably seen those scary movies from time to time, or perhaps documentaries of various atrocities people have been put through in history. Well, bad and frightening as those seem to be, they are nothing when compared to the trouble you will face if God withholds Bible doctrine from your life.

Your greatest fear, should be God, and not what He can do to you, but what He can withhold from you.

Every time you flirt with anti-spiritual things, you are flirting with establishing a pattern of life which you might slip into, and thus out from under Gods protection and blessing. You may think you can have life both ways, but little flirts will get you big trouble. And one day when you wake up and find yourself so far from doctrine, then you will most likely be in deep doggie doo-doo and hurting big time.

Little flirts can be as simple as reading 'religiously' from those gossip magazines, or watching repeatedly those sitcom shows on television. Shows, which issue subtle attacks against nearly every principle of doctrine that exists. They attack marriage, family, patriotism, and so forth, presenting alternative life styles as being normal and therefore acceptable. These are subtle, but extremely dangerous to your spiritual life.

And so when doctrine is ignored, when Gods principles of truth are watered down, because a little water can't be that bad, when life is compromised because we just don't feel like being responsible. Right?

Or we can find easy excuses as to why we cannot obey Gods mandates, then we are turning the corner of our spiritual life and as Esau did, selling it, our most valuable possession, for a little taste of self entertainment.

Note one thing. God expects you to obey His mandates. God will always make available to you the how, where, and means of fulfilling your obligations in life. It is up to you to come up with the excuses to disobey if you are going to conveniently ignore your obligations.

You can easily sit back the see the stupidity of the world. You can either be like them, or you can be smarter.

You can pursue the things of this world and become a loser like most everyone else, or you can ignore the enticements and distractions of the world, pursue your spiritual life, and become a winner, courtesy of God.

The world cannot give you anything. God can give you everything.

God controls the plan of history, but your attitude and decisions decide where you will end up in that plan.

Now is the time to post a prayer.