Thursday Reflection June 18, 2020 Faith requires obedience
Thursday Reflection
June 18, 2020
Faith requires obedience
Noah did all that God commanded him. Genesis 6:22
As people began to multiply on the earth, so too did the sins of these people. The sons of God admired the beauty of women and took any woman they wanted as wives. This type of behavior angered the Lord, which resulted in a shorten life span of 120 years for humanity. As God observed the behavior of people on earth, he realized that everything they thought or imagined was consistently evil. God regretted making humanity and putting them on earth. The Lord then decided to destroy both human and animals on earth.
Despite the wickedness that existed on earth God found favor in one man. Noah did what was righteous in the sight of God. Noah walked closely with the Lord. God shared with Noah his plans to wipe out all living things, because they have become violent and wicked. God instructed Noah to build an ark with a specific outline given to him. The text tells us that Noah did all that God commanded him.
Friends, there two are points I want to draw from this text.
- Noah found favor
In a world that was wicked and self-centered to the point God regretted making humanity, there stood one man who did what was right in the sight of God. Noah did not follow the pattern of the world and all what the rest of the people was doing. Instead Noah lived a righteous life in a sinful world, which is what is required today. In a world where sin has become so rampant and evil abound, we are called to remain righteous before the Lord and do not conform to the pattern of this world. How was Noah able to remain righteous whilst the rest of the world lived in sin? Easy, he walked closely with God. Only God can help us to remain righteous in a world that is so sinful, but we have to walk closely with the Lord. We cannot become distracted by what is happening around us. It doesn’t meant that we ignore what is happening around us, but we do not fall into the sinfulness of what is happening around us.
- Noah was obedient
As a result of Noah’s righteousness, God decided not to destroy him and his family along with everyone else in the world. God came to Noah and told Noah of his plans to destroy the earth. I want to highlight this little point. Because Noah was righteous God revealed to Noah his plans. God gave Noah the instructions on how the ark was to be built and Noah did all that God commanded him. Noah was obedient to God. In a world of disobedience, Noah did what God commanded. Friends, Noah’s faith in God resulted in his obedience in fulfilling God’s instructions even though everyone else was doing what they wanted. For Noah doing what God wanted was more important than even doing what he wanted for himself. We cannot be faithful to God without being obedient. For obedience is doing what God tells us to do.
Let us demonstrate our faith by keeping the commandments of the Lord.
Shalom
Christopher Euphfa