Feared God and shunned evil

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. – Job 1v1

Although Genesis is the beginning of history and is the first book of the Bible, it is probably not the oldest. Most Bible scholars tell us that Job was the first book of the Bible to be written down.

With that we mind we enter what has become a very personal book of the Bible to me. At one point I knew about Job and could apply a couple of verses, but I really didn’t get it. Over the last few years we have been through a few experiences that have helped to understand Job just a little more than I had before.

The very first verse of the very first book of the Bible every written down introduces us to Job. He was a man from the land of Uz. His name was Job. He was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil.

What a tremendous introduction. I would love to have that kind of a testimony. It really doesn’t get much better than that.

Not only that, Job’s description is one that should characterise the people of God all through history. Though written probably 6000 or so years ago these character traits are ones that should suit us today as well.

Blameless. Upright. Fearing God. Shunning evil.

We could study each one of these words, but packed together they are quite a challenge. Any yet here we meet a man who did not have one word of the written Bible who qualified in each area.

That makes his life even more challenging. How would we do if this simple four item list was used as a measurement of our lives? Job had nothing. We have the complete revelation of God in our hands.

How are we doing?