By Joe Slater
Some people just naturally stand out from the rest. Of three individuals the Bible says there was “none like him.”
When Israel clamored for a king so they could be like the nations around them, God reluctantly gave them Saul, the son of Kish. The prophet Samuel anointed Saul and asked Israel, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” (1 Samuel 10:1, 24). What was so special about Saul? “When he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward” (10:23). Unfortunately, his fine physique didn’t make Saul a good king. He started out well but came to a disastrous end.
Hezekiah, unlike Saul, was renowned not for his good looks, but his godliness. “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among the kings of Judah, nor who were before him” (2 Kings 18:5). Hezekiah had inherited a kingdom mired down in the idolatry and immorality of his father, Ahaz. Despite his youth and regardless of the difficulty, Hezekiah instituted sweeping reforms to bring Judah closer to God.
Even better than Hezekiah was the patriarch Job. God Himself said of him, “There is none like him on the earth” (Job 1:8a). What made him so exceptional? The Lord said he was “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (1:8b). Job’s conduct was such that no one could successfully find fault with him. (His friends tried, but failed miserably!) Job’s reverence for God led him to shun wickedness.
Christians ought to stand out from the world. We may not have marvelous physiques, nor should that be our concern. Let us trust in the Lord like Hezekiah! Let us strive to be blameless and upright, reverencing God and shunning evil! May God say of us, “There is none like them!”
Some people just naturally stand out from the rest. Of three individuals the Bible says there was “none like him.”
When Israel clamored for a king so they could be like the nations around them, God reluctantly gave them Saul, the son of Kish. The prophet Samuel anointed Saul and asked Israel, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” (1 Samuel 10:1, 24). What was so special about Saul? “When he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward” (10:23). Unfortunately, his fine physique didn’t make Saul a good king. He started out well but came to a disastrous end.
Hezekiah, unlike Saul, was renowned not for his good looks, but his godliness. “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among the kings of Judah, nor who were before him” (2 Kings 18:5). Hezekiah had inherited a kingdom mired down in the idolatry and immorality of his father, Ahaz. Despite his youth and regardless of the difficulty, Hezekiah instituted sweeping reforms to bring Judah closer to God.
Even better than Hezekiah was the patriarch Job. God Himself said of him, “There is none like him on the earth” (Job 1:8a). What made him so exceptional? The Lord said he was “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (1:8b). Job’s conduct was such that no one could successfully find fault with him. (His friends tried, but failed miserably!) Job’s reverence for God led him to shun wickedness.
Christians ought to stand out from the world. We may not have marvelous physiques, nor should that be our concern. Let us trust in the Lord like Hezekiah! Let us strive to be blameless and upright, reverencing God and shunning evil! May God say of us, “There is none like them!”
- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in
Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's
website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com
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