Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. . . In all this, Job didn’t sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.”
(Job 1:1-3, 22)

“Yahweh, who shall dwell in your sanctuary?
    Who shall live on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right,
    and speaks truth in his heart;
he who doesn’t slander with his tongue,
    nor does evil to his friend,
    nor casts slurs against his fellow man;
in whose eyes a vile man is despised,
    but who honors those who fear Yahweh;
    he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;
he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury,
    nor take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be shaken.“
(Psalm 15)

Job did NOTHING wrong. Job was BLAMELESS in all of this. NOTHING that happened to Job was because of ANYTHING that Job did or failed to do. God Himself called Job completely, totally, and absolutely BLAMELESS. Job had four attributes that God declared: blameless, upright, reverencing God, and shunning evil. These were things that Job practised. On a daily basis. He did not let them go. They were part of who he was. And as his situation worsened, Job didn’t let go of them (Job’s one fault was demanding an explanation from God because of his attributes – as in ‘how could you do this to ME, look what I have done’). Job had a reliance on God. Job kept his eyes on God. And Job was grateful to God for everything he had.

Who gets to enjoy the presence of the Lord? Those who actively seek to live blameless lives. Important to note it is not those who SUCCEED on their own merits, but those who SEEK who are rewarded with God’s presence. We are unable to attain righteousness without His help (for which we should remember to thank Jesus every day). Speakers of TRUTH. Those who honour the Lord. Who don’t slander. Who don’t seek to take advantage of others. Who keeps the oaths they make – even when they become inconvenient or cost us more than we want to pay. Those who don’t take bribes. These are all attributes of those who seek to walk righteously. Who seek the presence of God. Although there are more pieces, they all fall into the same four categories of Job’s attributes. Those who seek the Lord will share in the same attributes because they are all attributes that are part of who God is.

Summary

Jesus said that if we love Him, we’ll follow His commandments. That we will find ourselves following His commandments when we are walking, speaking, and thinking God’s kind of love. If we are loving God, we revere Him. If we are loving God, we speak the Truth. If we are loving God, we’re not taking advantage of others. If we are loving God, we are turning away from even the appearance of evil. If we are loving God, we’re not taking bribes. If we’re loving God, we keep our word. If we’re loving God, we’re not slandering. If we are loving God, we are seeking Him. And if we are seeking Him, we are seeking to be like Him. Actively choosing different behaviour so that we align ourselves with His Will and His moral character.