Scripture text for Wednesday, January 6, 2010: Genesis 6:5-7:24
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Do you ever find it difficult to obey God’s word? How far would you go to obey God? Would you risk ridicule to obey Him? Would you build an ark if God told you to? Like most of us, Noah must have struggled with obeying the Lord’s commands…but still he was obedient.
During Noah’s time, the Lord was grieved over man’s wickedness and disobedience. The “earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence” (Gen 6:11). God’s plan was to wipe every living thing from the earth and start again. God’s heart was filled with pain, but despite this, he saw favor in Noah, his family and two of each animal. God commanded Noah to build an ark. Not just any ark, but one that God specified. God identified the type of wood. God gave the dimensions. God told Noah what to put on the ark. God told Noah when the rain would come. God told Noah when to get on the ark. Only if Noah was obedient would he survive. “Noah did everything just as God commanded him” (Gen 6:22).
Today we are in much the same situation as Noah. The earth and much of its people are corrupt. War, violence and the results of sin are the headlines in the news. Just as Noah was given instructions to save his life and that of his family by building an ark, we are instructed to give our lives to Christ, not by building an ark, but by believing. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Rom 3:22). It is only through showing obedience like Noah, that we too will find favor with God. Will you choose to believe and be obedient to God’s instructions for your life?
Devotion prepared by Scott Blanchard