When we mention Job, we will all think of the true testimony of his victory over Satan: His family property was carried off, his servants were killed, his children’s lives were taken away, and Satan also smote him with sore boils all over his body. And he sat in the ashes and used a potsherd to scrape away the surface of the sore boils. In such a situation, Job still maintained his purity—fearing God and shunning evil, without sinning through his words, and would rather die than complain about God. He still praised the holy name of Jehovah God, made a wonderful and resounding testimony, completed his mission, and lived a life of value. We all admire Job’s confidence in bearing testimony for God during great trials, wondering how Job was able to obey the environment God set out, without sinning through his words or complaining about God?

Let’s read God’s words together: “‘And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all.’ Job’s conduct shows us that, rather than being manifested in his outward behavior, his fear of God came from within his heart, and that his fear of God could be found in every aspect of his daily life, at all times, for he not only shunned evil himself, but often sacrificed burnt offerings on behalf of his sons. In other words, Job was not only deeply afraid of sinning against God and renouncing God in his own heart, but also worried that his sons sinned against God and renounced Him in their hearts. From this can be seen that the truth of Job’s fear of God stands up to scrutiny, and is beyond the doubt of any man. Did he do thus occasionally, or frequently? The final sentence of the text is ‘Thus did Job continually.’ The meaning of these words is that Job did not go and look in on his sons occasionally, or when it pleased him, nor did he confess to God through prayer. Instead, he regularly sent and sanctified his sons, and sacrificed burnt offerings for them. The ‘continually’ here does not mean he did so for one or two days, or for a moment. It is saying that the manifestation of Job’s fear of God was not temporary, and did not stop at knowledge, or spoken words; instead, the way of fearing God and shunning evil guided his heart, it dictated his behavior, and it was, in his heart, the root of his existence. That he did so continually shows that, in his heart, he often feared that he himself would sin against God and was also afraid that his sons and daughters sinned against God. It represents just how much weight the way of fearing God and shunning evil carried within his heart. He did thus continually because, in his heart, he was frightened and afraid—afraid that he had committed evil and sinned against God, and that he had deviated from the way of God and so was unable to satisfy God. And at the same time, he also worried about his sons and daughters, fearing that they had offended God. Thus was Job’s normal conduct in his everyday life.” Job sought to fear God and shun evil in his daily life. Because of his fear of God, despite his wife and his three friends’ attacks and temptations, he could stand firm in his testimony and said, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). God was satisfied with it. Job’s faith in God is not coming out of thin air. This has a lot to do with the way that Job walked in his belief in God. He pursued fearing God in his life. Finally, he stood firm in testimony by fearing God. This is also the fundamental reason why he did not sin through his words in everything.