Job 12:3

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"I am not inferior to you." Job 12:3

This may be a mere boast, or it may contain truth which is of great spiritual significance. The spirit of defiance ought to be taken out of it, and the substantial suggestion should be adopted by every man who wishes to make real progress in Christian instruction and experience. The poorest man may say to the greatest I am not inferior to you in my desire to appreciate my life and make the most of it; therefore I cannot be turned aside by vain quibbling or frivolous criticism, but I must go to the fountain of knowledge itself, and there make my own inquiries and decisions. So the poor man may say I am not inferior to you in the sight of God; social distinctions there are in abundance, often invidious, vexatious, troublesome, sometimes rational, useful and beneficent; but after all, the true judgment of man is with God, and God looks upon the rich and the poor alike, with an eye of love and interest. This being the case, he may continue the argument and say, God will also take care of me and my children; he has spoken kinder words to the poor than he ever spoke to the rich; he seems to have made his promises on purpose for those who were desolate, and helpless, and sad. Then he may cheer himself with the thought that there are inferiorities which are only for the time being, they are transient, and the true standard of superiority will by-and-by be worked out, and God will put every man in his legitimate place; the first shall be last, and the last shall be first; it is not for us to say who shall go forward, and who shall be thrust behind; our function is to discover our duty, to accept it, to do it with both hands earnestly, and to leave the whole result of classification and promotion to him who ruleth over all. In speaking of inferiority and superiority, the spirit of vexatious criticism or envious defiance should always be suppressed and destroyed, and this only can be done by the reigning and superabundant grace of God. He who boasts himself of himself is a fool; he who appeals to the divine standard and abides by the divine discrimination is a wise man, and he will accept the lowest place, not with humility only, but with thankfulness and joy, should such be the will of his Father in heaven.