“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Gen. 6:5-8
Today’s Christian Daily Devotional
When I think of the state of the world today, I imagine it cannot get much worse. Then, I read these verses in Gen. 6:5-8 and my imagination runs wild. According to God, there was only ONE man that loved Him and wanted to serve Him.
In my own little world, it sometimes feels like I am the only one on my block who is not afraid to say the word “Jesus” (as a swear-word does not count.). Then, I log onto facebook, and I see that although I might be odd in my neck of the woods, I am not a rarity. There are many people who love the Lord and want to serve Him in this world.
Imagine being the ONLY man on the face of the planet that had a desire to serve God and an intimate friendship with Him. Imagine how lonely and isolated Noah must have been. Who did Noah go on walks with? How did he spend His time? I am sure that he prayed a lot.
Despite Noah’s suffering, God took notice and allowed Noah to go down in history as the only man that God saved when He wanted to “clean the slate” of the world.
If you are feeling discouraged, isolated and out of place, please remember Noah. No one could have had it worse than this guy, and God blessed him because he kept on loving God–no matter what the cost. That intimate relationship with the Lord was an eternal investment, because God not only spared Noah his life (in a miraculous way), Noah will always be remembered as a “Biblical Rockstar”. Not too bad for a “nerdy” rebel.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Sometimes I get down on myself because it seems that loving you has cost me a lot of the other things I loved—like my friends. I know that to really love someone it must cost me something, but sometimes I feel like it costs too much. I realize that this is a totally wrong attitude. Jesus suffered such a horrible death so I could not only enjoy heaven for eternity, but also enjoy freedom here on earth. I have been looking at my faith as if it has “tied me down”. That is a crazy way to think! Loving God and having an intimate friendship with the Creator of the Universe is a benefit in it’s own right! Anything above that is moot! You have blessed me with good health, a good family and food and shelter. I repent for sulking and feeling sorry for myself. If I feel alone, I should do something about it—like bring more people with me to heaven, not waste time moping. In Jesus’ precious name, I am sorry that it took me so long to finally “get” this. I got it! Amen.”
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