Monday, December 10, 2007

God's Covenant with Noah


COVENANT with Noah
Genesis 6:13-9:16
Genesis 6:9: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”


Ever hear the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”? That means that if someone buys you lunch, there’s always a catch.

People don’t do something for you without expecting something in return. Sometimes ‘free lunches’ cost people more than they’re worth. The sacrifice it too steep for us to agree to. Free lunches can be anything. If a school mate suddenly warms up to you, clearly wanting to be your new best friend, chances are he wants something.

The thing about covenants in the Bible are that God wants something from us, too. A covenant can be seen as a deal, a contract, or a pact. When God gives us a promise, there will be problems that pop up in association with that promise. Before claiming His promise, we’ll have to work through the problems that arise. His provision, or gifts in realizing the promise, are always better than we expect.

Promise, Problems, Provision. They go hand in hand in hand.

The covenants God makes with His children in the Bible are everlasting.

Before God destroyed the earth with floods, He gave Noah a promise that he and his family would be safe. Then Noah had to build the ark. People laughed at Noah. Housing two of every animal for months cooped up in the ark was another problem. After forty days of rain, it took close to another month until the water had dried up enough for Noah to open the doors. God fulfilled His promise with the provision that his family was to repopulate the earth. Then God gave Noah another provision. A rainbow would show us that God would never destroy the earth with water again.

Take Home Nugget

Sometimes we’re tempted to refuse a promise when seeing what it will take to accept it. But as we saw, when God promises us something, He will move heaven and earth to lead us through it. The problems can seem insurmountable to us. But our Father God will guide us through them all. What a teammate God is!

God’s promises to us are so enticing;
He knows what rings our bell.
As He leads us through the problems,
Awesome stories we will tell.
J.D. Griffith
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