By Theodore Epp

      Job 1: 1-5

      In brief but pointed phrases Job is described in the first verse in the book: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1).

      First of all, he is said to be "perfect." This word does not refer to sinless perfection but to the fact that Job wholeheartedly wanted to please God.

      Second, Job is described as an upright man. He had a good relationship with other human beings, which was due to his having a right relationship with God. He was a man of unusual piety.

      Third, Job was a man who feared God. In the Old Testament context this refers to a man who had a reverential trust of God coupled with a hatred for evil. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10). With that trust in God grows a sensitivity to sin and a hatred of it.

      Fourth, Job was a man who eschewed evil, which means that he turned away from it. He abstained from evil and shunned it. His manner of life corresponded to his relationship with God.

      Through trust in Jesus Christ, we have been cleansed from sin. Its guilt has been removed, and we are counted righteous in God's eyes. We are born again, but does our conduct before other people indicate what our relationship is before God? Job's conduct did.

      "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccles. 12:13).