Three Special Men

     God was not pleased with the people of Israel when He gave the prophet, Ezekiel, several messages to deliver to them.  God's displeasure of His people's sinful ways was enough to make me shudder at my own sinful ways and what God might want to do to make me reconsider my own thoughts and actions.
     However, when I read Ezekiel, Chapter 14, verses 14 and 20 I sit up and took notice of how righteous God considered three other men in past scripture.  (vs.14) "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God."  (vs.20) "Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness."
     Obviously, God was well-pleased with these three men.  Maybe I should go back and take special notice of how these three men lived their lives.
     I am sure Noah was not perfect, but he loved God, and we were told of no serious sins.  He tried to do what was right and appeared to love his family.  When God told him to build an ark for a coming great flood, Noah obeyed, even though he had never seen rain, much less a flood, during his entire lifetime.  Furthermore, he continued his God-given task even though all the people mocked him.
     I don't know what Daniel's character flaws may have been, but I found him to be humble, never promoting himself.  He was intelligent, but gave God credit for interpreting the dreams of others.  Daniel remained true to his convictions.  He was truly a man of prayer, and one who trusted God and remained faithful even when thrown into the lion's den.
     In the beginning verse of Job, we are told, "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." Then in verse 8 God told Satan, "...there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth god, and escheweth evil."  Now that is a pretty impressive description of a human man living in a sinful world.  What makes Job even a greater man, in man's eyes, is that he lost all his worldly possessions, yet he never denied God.
     I believe I would do good to strive to exemplify these character traits.