Remembering the big stuff
This week's brief bibletastic lesson is on Genesis 7:11-12:
These verses refer to a huge event that happened long before most of recorded history. Many cultures have flood stories, so even staunchly secular people agree that something must have happened to prompt them. Still, it happened so long ago that we barely have an idea of where and when it happened. For Noah, though, he remembers the exact day it started raining. Why?
The flood was like nothing the world had ever seen. It wiped out everything Noah knew, except for what he brought on the boat that God told him to build. Even at whatever age he was when he told his descendants to pass down the story, he remembered exactly when the rain started falling. Why? Because he expected it. God told him to build a boat and that he was going to wash the earth clean of the evil that had built up. When that rain started falling, it was the first sign that God was following through with his plan. At that point, he knew that it wasn't just to be laughed at that he built his boat. Something amazing was about to happen, and more importantly, the God of the universe had included him in his plan.
Do we keep track of anything like that ourselves? When God's promises to us are kept, when we see stuff that is miraculous, do we really take it to heart and remember it? Or do we get distracted and forget about it, and then get all grumpy that God doesn't pay any attention to people any more? How many thousands of years ago did this happen? It was before ancient Egypt's civilization, before Mesopotamia, before any old literature and pretty much any artefacts you would find in a museum, yet we know the exact day of Noah's life that this all happened. Noah took this really seriously. When we see a miracle happen, when we see God's hand in our lives, we should take it seriously too. This is what life is all about. The earth exists as a place for us to connect with God. When it happens, it's a noteworthy event.
When God does something cool in your life, choose to remember it and pass it on like Noah did. People need to hear about stuff like that. Remember it so that you never doubt how great God is. It's evidence against doubt. That first moment when you realize that God has intervened in your life, and that you've heard his voice clearly is so precious. Praise him in front of everyone for that kind of thing, like Noah did. Nobody would know about the flood if he'd kept it to himself.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
These verses refer to a huge event that happened long before most of recorded history. Many cultures have flood stories, so even staunchly secular people agree that something must have happened to prompt them. Still, it happened so long ago that we barely have an idea of where and when it happened. For Noah, though, he remembers the exact day it started raining. Why?
The flood was like nothing the world had ever seen. It wiped out everything Noah knew, except for what he brought on the boat that God told him to build. Even at whatever age he was when he told his descendants to pass down the story, he remembered exactly when the rain started falling. Why? Because he expected it. God told him to build a boat and that he was going to wash the earth clean of the evil that had built up. When that rain started falling, it was the first sign that God was following through with his plan. At that point, he knew that it wasn't just to be laughed at that he built his boat. Something amazing was about to happen, and more importantly, the God of the universe had included him in his plan.
Do we keep track of anything like that ourselves? When God's promises to us are kept, when we see stuff that is miraculous, do we really take it to heart and remember it? Or do we get distracted and forget about it, and then get all grumpy that God doesn't pay any attention to people any more? How many thousands of years ago did this happen? It was before ancient Egypt's civilization, before Mesopotamia, before any old literature and pretty much any artefacts you would find in a museum, yet we know the exact day of Noah's life that this all happened. Noah took this really seriously. When we see a miracle happen, when we see God's hand in our lives, we should take it seriously too. This is what life is all about. The earth exists as a place for us to connect with God. When it happens, it's a noteworthy event.
When God does something cool in your life, choose to remember it and pass it on like Noah did. People need to hear about stuff like that. Remember it so that you never doubt how great God is. It's evidence against doubt. That first moment when you realize that God has intervened in your life, and that you've heard his voice clearly is so precious. Praise him in front of everyone for that kind of thing, like Noah did. Nobody would know about the flood if he'd kept it to himself.
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