"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God…Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.’ Noah did everything just as God commanded him." Genesis 6:9b, 11-22
Like Noah, we should strive daily to walk closely with God and attempt to live as blameless and righteously as possible among our fellow man. Like Noah, we should always be prepared to go and do whatever God commands. Unlike Noah, I don’t think any of us have been asked to take on the kind of task God gives him in our scripture above or at least I haven’t been aware of any other arks built since Genesis. But Noah did get told to build the ark that would essentially preserve a remnant of God’s creation from the destructive flood He was about to bring. And the amazing part of this for me is that he did so without a word...he just "did everything just as God commanded him."
Noah’s life and response lead us to some important takeaways as we seek to walk more and more in God’s will and way:
1. Walk closer and closer with God every day. We can never get too close to Him. The more we’re in His presence, the more we’ll embody and be empowered to be what He wants us to be. And the more empowered we are in Him, the more confident we become through Him. There’s no doubt in my mind that we can even get to the point where God might tell us to build a giant ark and fill it with specific people and creatures and we could do it without question…we would be able to do everything and anything that God commands.
Question: How closely are you walking with God? Do you need to draw nearer to His presence in your daily walk?
2. Never underestimate what God might ask you to do at any one given time. I’m sure Noah didn’t wake up on the day of our scripture’s events and say to himself, "I think I’ll build a great ark today" but that’s what ended up happening. We all have such a tendency to have our days planned and scheduled. How would any of us handle God stepping into our day and commanding us to do something as momentous as what He asked Noah to do? I think the key is to be ready for God to do anything at anytime and use us in anyway He sees fit to accomplish His will. Noah was up to the task. We need to be as well.
3. When God commands you to do something, just do it. Our scripture doesn’t say that Noah questioned whether he was the right man for the task God had given him. It doesn’t say that he was afraid he would fail to accomplish what he was told to do. It doesn’t say that he was overwhelmed by the task ahead. And it definitely doesn’t say that he came up with some excuse as to why he couldn’t do it. No…Noah simply "did everything just s God commanded him." We’re to follow suit.
I don’t know about you but I gain more and more respect every time I study his story. After God had dealt with Adam and Cain, I can’t help but think Noah was a nice breath of fresh air for God. Not hard to understand why it was Noah and his family that God decided to bless. I can only hope God feels the same way about my family and I as well. I’m sure you’re hoping likewise.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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