February 24: Genesis 11:1-9
Key Verse: Genesis 11:6
The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Devotion:
One of the things which worried God was the capacity for mankind to do wrong. It was not the capacity of mankind to do good, because God knew we could do anything if we set our minds to it – why else would He have created us in this manner if He did not want us to do good! But it is our failing which worried Him most of all and He did not want us to compound those failings…
When I look back on the bible I see civilisations which were able to accomplish great things and all throughout the world of archaeology we see the remnants of the great things mankind has done – but we also see the remnants of the great destruction we have wrought on the world too!
God wanted to stop the people from building the tower and making things great because they were doing it all for the wrong reasons. We I look around at the amazing inventions and science and technology we have in the world, I see the result of the intelligence God created us with… But when certain people get going, they don’t stop when they go overboard and end up hurting a whole lot more people than they do with the good they have done.
We need to take account of what God has done for us, why He has given us the intelligence and where-with-all we have; and we need to use what he has given us for the good of all mankind, not just a select few who want to get richer while the rest of the world gets poorer!
Points to Ponder:
How many things do you do which are for the good of many?
How many things have you done which are for the good of your own self?
February 23: Genesis 9:1-3
Key Verse: Genesis 9:2
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
Devotion:
One of the things I always used to wonder about was why animals always run away from humans. I started to think it was because of the way we treat them, but that only goes as far as a generation or until the animals have no contact with humans… Then I read this verse in the bible and it reminded me about how awesome our God is in everything!
Not only did He have a plan for everything and make sure the plan was executed, but He knew us before we were born and knew our wants and needs. For us to be able to survive He made sure there would be plenty of food available for us. Unfortunately mankind has all but ruined the ecological system God put in place and we struggle with all manner of foods nowadays. But the plan was there in the beginning and was set up by someone who knows exactly what we do need.
I have been enjoying trying out all sorts of foods they cook in China, Japan and Korea and it has amazed me how different the diets are compared to what I was used to. I must admit that I do feel a lot better eating a more varied diet; but what excites me more is knowing God had planned all of this out in the beginning! Each different country and society, even community, has its own specific likes and dislikes built up over generations of people. Each has chosen their own preferences from all of the food God has given us.
I will never look down on people who choose to live their lives differently because I know those differences are probably man made to start with – God gave us free choice in the beginning and He continues to uphold that free choice… If we abuse that choice then we have to live with the consequences, but if we abide by it and keep it close to our hearts, the God will continue to reward us as He has all the time!
Points to Ponder:
What are you favourite foods?
What are your favourite things to do for God?
February 22: Genesis 8:20-22
Key Verse: Genesis 8:22
‘As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’
Devotion:
I don’t know about you but I love the smell of cooking; well, most cooking smells, but some are not nice. I know this is not what is happening here, but that is the first thing which came to mind when I read the passage. When we look at what was happening, we see something which is very endearing. Noah was told to take some of the animals and sacrifice them to God… What does that mean? Well it means they were taken away from Noah as a food source and given to God. Noah was putting His families needs as well as his own need aside and giving it all to God!
That is a big deal! How often do you take your livelihood and offer it to God? How often do you take things which you need to survive and give them to God? I do try to give things to God, but I don’t give everything like Noah was doing here. God wants us to be confident in giving things to Him and knowing we will still be looked after by Him. This doesn’t mean we give everything to God and wait to see if He feeds us! This means we give what He asks and know He will cover our needs!
This comes down to the same sort of thing where Satan tempted Jesus to throw Himself off the ledge to see if God would catch Him… We don’t tempt God. But if God asks us to do something, we do it! Abraham was asked by God to offer his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham was obedient and was doing exactly that when God turned the tables and gave him an offering to use instead of Isaac.
If we can be confident in our faith like Noah and Abraham, then we too will see the awesome grace and mercy of God as He gives us what we need to fulfil His requests. It’s all about faith in God and obedience to Him. Noah and Abraham are extremes for our sake so we can see God is always going to give us our needs!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you totally trust God?
Will you listen out for God’s calling?
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?