Saturday, March 1, 2014

March 2, 2014

"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 is in keeping with faith." Hebrews 11:7

Hebrews 11 is a study on faith heroes who were able to lock into a greater reality. They lived by faith not by sight. 

I want to use Noah's story to demonstrate how there three questions played out in shaping his future:

What is real?

What is right?

What is rewarding?

Noah clearly illustrates his confidence in a higher reality by his amazing 365 day/120 yr. record of daily obedience!

Think about this with me.

God called Noah to construct a very large boat in order to save his family from a world-wide universal flood resulting from a 40 day long deluge of torrential rain.

That alone would stretch my faith! I'm not sure how you would handle it.

Here is how reality would have dictated him to respond:

"God, I have never built a boat before! In fact, I am not sure if I have even seen a boat before. And, by the way, God, you'll have to forgive me for being unclear about this flood thing since I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED RAIN!"

Each of those three statements were absolutely true and based on reality. But God was challenging Noah to a higher reality - FAITH!

Once Noah locked into a higher reality than sight, sound, and touch it became clear what was right for him to do - OBEY GOD AND BUILD AN ARK!

Of course we know that he already was doing a lot of things right because Genesis tells us, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord", it was his righteousness or his tendency to do what is right that got God's attention in the first place!

So Noah was accustomed to doing right but God was taking him to another level!

I think it is easy to see how the "what's real" and "what's right" questions came into play.

Now let's consider the third question, "What's rewarding?" It is another way of asking the, "What's in it for me?" question.

Notice what motivated Noah - "in holy fear". That is another way of saying that Noah was thinking of the reward for his obedience while avoiding the consequences of disobedience!

When you can get your mind and soul around these three questions and give the right answers they will allow the Word of God to operate in your life at a new level! They will help you construct a flood-proof life and resist the pressures of an evil culture!

Will you find grace in the eyes of the Lord?