Wednesday Morning

Concept: God Offers Salvation

Here is today’s question: How many doves did Moses put on the ark? How many alligators? How many unicorns? The answer is the same for each. None! Moses didn’t put any animals on the ark! Noah did!
Have you ever stopped to think how difficult that was? What must it to have been like to build such a huge ship? … on land … nowhere near water … when it had never even rained before … and you’re following a voice of someone you can’t see for building instructions?

Emotionally, there would have been challenges. Maybe people looked at him weird. Maybe the neighborhood kids called him crazy and made interesting little sing-song chants about him. Maybe he got a terrible nickname. Maybe his family had to endure ridicule from their friends and they pressured him to stop. Maybe his best friends alienated him. Maybe he wasn’t welcome in places he wanted to go. Maybe places that had once been comfortable were now intolerable. Maybe he wanted to quit. Maybe he questioned his own sanity.
Building a multi-story cruise ship with built-in mega kennel using nothing but three sons to help is quite an undertaking. He probably got blisters. He probably fell off ladders. He probably smacked his thumb with a hammer. He probably got pinched between boards. He probably got splinters. He probably bumped his head. He probably pierced his skin. He probably bled. He probably got bruises. He probably had to carry heavy loads. He probably got sore muscles. He probably got really tired.

Spiritually, it would be tough too. It would have taken a long time to build such a large ship. It would be difficult to get up in the morning knowing that all you were going to do was work on the ark. It would be difficult going to bed knowing that all you were going to do tomorrow was work on the ark. It would be difficult to see the only thing on your to-do list for the day was “ark”. It would be difficult to see tomorrow’s to-do list was the same as today’s, …, and yesterday’s, … and last week’s, … and last month’s. It would be difficult to tell friends that you couldn’t do something fun because you needed to stay home and work on the ark. It would be difficult to work on the ark after a month of hating it.

Does any of this sound familiar? Sure, you may need to replace “building the ark” with some other point of obedience, but today’s pressures and consequences aren’t that much different. What is the payoff to following God?

The one sentence of Hebrews 11:7 sums it up: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Remember this concept: God offers salvation.