One of my favorite Bible verses for men is found in the book of Job. In Job 3:8 God said to Job, “Now gird up your loins like a man….” Put in today’s vernacular, God was saying “MAN UP!” I asked a group of men at a Bible Study, “If God came to you and said ‘Man Up’ what would you assume about yourself at that moment?” One man answered, “I would assume that I had not been acting like a man.” Exactly! So, the question arises, “What does a real man look like and act like?” Over the past decades I have heard sayings such as REAL MEN don’t eat quiche, REAL MEN don’t cry, REAL MEN don’t drive mini-vans, etc. etc. I’m not really interested in this world’s definition of what a REAL MAN is, though. I just want to know what God’s definition of a REAL MAN is. Looking at God’s design of the very first man, Adam, here are a few things I believe God considers a REAL MAN to be:
1. Somebody who reflects God’s image and glory on the Earth (after all, God did say “Let us make man in our own IMAGE” Genesis 1:26).
2. Somebody who has power and authority over his domain (“…and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth…” Genesis 1:26)
3. Somebody who is fruitful and duplicates himself in the Earth (and God said “Be fruitful and multiply…” Genesis 1:28)
4. Somebody who knows how to work, and how to protect what’s been given to him (“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” Genesis 2:15)
So, armed with this information, here’s what a REAL MAN looks like:
A person who looks like and acts like God no matter what He’s facing in life…
A person who has authority and takes responsibility…
A person who is interested in producing and raising up a generation who will follow in his footsteps…
and a person who will work hard and protect/defend what God gives him.
When God sees any man behaving in a fashion that is beneath these attributes of a REAL MAN He has the right to say “MAN UP!”
