Irvin Wasswa- Tylertown Campus Pastor LHBC
Genesis 8:20-22
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse[a] the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Many of us are familiar with the flood narrative in the scriptures. Sin and wickedness ruled the world and God determined he was going to destroy it, yet there was one man Noah and his family who found favor with the Lord due to how he lived (Genesis 6). God called Noah to build an ark as a shelter for him, his family and the animals, and by faith Noah obeyed. (Genesis 7). After the water subsided and the land was dry, Noah’s first response after he got out of the ark was to worship God for His greatness and provision.
See, Noah had faith the Lord was going to do what He said he was going to do. He exhibited that faith in spending years building the ark even when there was no evidence a flood was going to come. Yet, when the flood was over the first response of Noah’s was to worship out of gratitude in his heart for the Lord. Why? Because of God’s faithfulness in providing for Noah and his family.
If we are not careful in the Christian life what can happen is that we can so easily forget God’s faithfulness. We become too familiar with the things of the Lord that we negate choosing to worship THE LORD for how faithful and good He has been to us. As the old adage goes, “familiarity breeds contempt.” All of a sudden when we pray we can go from being an expectant child to an entitled child, throwing a fit when the Lord may not answer our prayer the way we want it. We can go from being thankful to being thankless, giving God a proverbial “pat on the back” for what He has done for us instead of worshipping Him with our lips and with our life.
Noah’s response after he got off the ark was to worship the Lord because I believe that was his response while he was building the ark and while he was on the ark. Noah loved God and so he did not let himself or the things of the world distract him from worshipping Him. May that be said of us as well. Whether you have known Jesus for 50 years or 50 days, may we be like Noah and remember the Lord’s faithfulness. May the goodness and grace of the Lord never become too familiar with us, but rather may those realities in our life stir our affections for Him more deeply.
The God of the universe made a way for us to have a relationship with Him. He has provided for us and leads us day in and day out. He is Good. May we choose to not take that lightly, but rather choose to worship Him with our lips and our life.
Lamentations 3:22-23-
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
PRAYER FOR TODAY: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your faithfulness to me. Help me to be like Noah today and choose to worship You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Psalm 103:17
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children