Tuesday 21 Feb 2023

February 21: Genesis 7:1-5

Key Verse: Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.’

Devotion:
Have you ever got so mad at someone you did something totally out of character? I know I have done and said things I should never have when I got mad, and looking back at those times I regret them, but they happened because of situations which got out of hand at the time. After having such a great relationship with Adam and Eve, God had to endure total betrayal from them and for that He threw them out of the Garden of Eden.

When mankind continued to do more and more evil things against God, He could not throw them out of Eden because they were no longer there – but He could take away everything they had gained from their relationship with Him; after all they were certainly not acting like they were in any relationship with God any more! God had every right to be angry with the world because the world was working against Him and doing all manner of evil instead.

Noah had chosen to listen to God and to obey Him. Because of this Noah would have to face a very disturbing future, not because he had done wrong but because he was in proximity to the people who were doing wrong. This is one of the side effects of doing things wrong – we affect the people around us almost as much as we do ourselves and those closest to us. Noah would have to face the fact he and his family were going to survive when everyone else would not!

It is bad enough being picked out of a crowd, but when the whole crowd is going to get punished and you are not – things stand out a bit more. When I was in high school I often gave in and did what everyone else was doing instead of standing up for what was right just so I would not get labelled as a swat or goodie goodie! Noah chose to be different!

Points to Ponder:
Do you give in to peer pressure?

Will you stand up to be different for God?