The Ark

Genesis 6:9-22

This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

As I read this the other morning – thinking of Father’s Day this weekend and thanking God for my children (Austin, Tanner, Griffin and Grant) and allowing me to be a dad – I was struck with the reality that as a follower of Jesus our personal story is in many ways just like Noah’s.

If you believe the Bible (and I do), God is going to destroy this world one day and only those who have a saving relationship with Jesus will be rescued. Just like God told Noah exactly how to save himself and his family, He has given us His exact instructions and made it clear how we are to build our own ark of safety. Unlike Noah, we don’t have to go get supplies and labor for years to create our boat of rescue, we simply have to trust in God’s rescuer, Jesus, who has worked and labored for all of those who will trust in Him.

I am so thankful that, in Christ, God has built me and my family an ark… now if I could just get the “did everything just as God commanded him” part down, I’d be set.