“Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8, NASB).

In this verse God is describing Job to Satan, showcasing him as an example of faithfulness among human beings. God repeats this same description to the devil in vs. 2:3. And, the book of Job begins with this same description: “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (vs. 1:1).

Think about this: How would God describe you? If He was telling somebody else about you, how would He describe you? If He was referring Satan to a faithful person, would you be included on His reference list?

Now, this may seem somewhat absurd to ask yourself such question, but by asking, by scrutinizing your faith in this way, it realigns the focus of your relationship with God on what He wants you to be and to do rather than on how good you think you are (or aren’t) and what you are doing for Him.

I think much of Job’s goodness and faithfulness could be attributed to making personal accountability to God his main priority in life, what is termed here as “fearing God.” Job respected God and made himself responsible to God for all that he said and did. In so doing, Job acknowledged that God was the source of his power to be good and do good.

And, the story bears this out in vs. 21-22. When Satan struck down Job’s family, Job worshiped God, saying: “‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God,” Again, in vs. 2:10 when Job’s health was taken from him, he declared: “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?’ In all this job did not sin with his lips.”

As a new year begins, let us make personal accountability–the fear of the Lord–in all that we say and do in our lives our New Year’s resolution. Let us yearn to be the ones that God will call His good and faithful servants.

“Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23, NASB)