After the reading yesterday I started thinking about the interesting correlations between Genesis and Matthew: the beginning of the Old & New Testaments.
In Genesis we read of the fall of man and the entrance of sin into human life. In Matthew we read of the entrance of a man who will be the redemption of sins.
Adam and Eve made a decision and changed the course of history. Ever since that day, God planned for atonement. In the Old Testament the Israelites sacrificed animals to cover their sins. In the New Testament, one man would sacrifice himself for the redemption of all mankind. This sacrifice would cover every sin Adam & Eve ever committed, and every person since. All we have to do is accept the great gift of redemption God offers us. He’s provided the way we just have to let him into our lives.
Out of the verses I read today, Genesis 4:9 spoke to me the most. In this verse Noah is introduced as a “righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Oh that such a definition could be given of me! I know from reading Genesis that Noah was not a perfect man. He made some mistakes, but he was someone who walked with God. What does walking with God mean? I think it means that Noah looked toward God for strength and support; he worshiped God with all that was within him; from the moment he woke up to the moment he lay his head down at night, he was living his life for God. Out of an entire world of people, Noah was the only one seen as worthy of saving. He was the only one left worshiping God. I wonder: would I be the same? Would I still worship God if I were the last person doing so? I’m sure Noah faced criticism for his behavior; he may have been viewed as “weird” and “un-cool,” yet he followed God. And so God gave him a daunting task, collecting two of every kind of animal into a handmade ark, and saved his family from certain death. What an honor!
Prayer: Lord, help me to be more like Noah, who “walked with you” on a daily basis. Show me ways to strengthen my relationship with you.
Questions: What do you think would have been the toughest thing about Noah’s task? Building the ark? The rebuke of others? Believing that a flood would actually cover the world?
What lesson can you take to heart from the story of Noah? What does God want to teach you today?
No comments:
Post a Comment