Real Life. Weak Faith. Perfect Savior

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.

When I think of sin and being tempted to sin I usually think of what some call the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. I mean, if I can just resist the world, my flesh and the devil in these areas then I am doing well and certainly better than most. Unfortunately, most of us Christians define success in our walk with Jesus by what we can avoid doing instead of what we have been called to do – namely, to love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40).

All that to say that most would agree that temptation is what it is, namely our fight against whatever force is enticing us to sin.

In the gospel’s of Matthew, Mark & Luke we are told that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tempted by Satan. I have read through these passages many times but recently something hit me in regards to what Satan tempted Jesus with in the desert.

Satan did not approach Jesus with a naked lady, a buffet of food, a bottle of Crown Royal, or a shady business opportunity. Think about it… the very things that we are most easily tempted by and fall for were not what Satan used to tempt Jesus.

Satan tempted Jesus with three opportunities:
1. To provide for himself (Luke 4:3)
2. To make a name for himself (Luke 4:5-7)
3. To control God {misuse a promise of God} (Luke 4:9-11)

What this screamed to me recently was this… I can resist all the temptation this world has to throw at me and be able to say with integrity that I’m not controlled by lust, gluttony, greed, pride and the other “deadly sins”, but still be defeated daily by the very things that Jesus was tempted with by Satan.

Jesus faced (and resisted) real temptation. I am beginning to believe that what we call temptations would be more appropriately called distractions. If we stay distracted by the “deadly sins”, the world, our own flesh and the devil never have to try real hard to keep us in a state of defeat.

Here is the scary thing to me… in most Christian circles we are applauded if we have the “deadly sins” at bay while at the very same time we are exercising all our ability and resources to provide for ourselves, make a name for ourselves and control God.

Do you ever feel like there are always a hundred decisions that you need to make? It seems that way to me all the time, everyday, all day long. Whether its for myself, my family, my job, my finances, my time, my friends, my co-workers… there are always so many things to decide. Oh yeah… and I really want to get those decisions right.

Recently I just so happened (or via Providence, take your pick) to read John 8 and Proverbs 4 on the same day and was struck by the weight of the truth – when considered together – of the following verses:

John 8:12 – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:31-32 – So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Proverbs 4:26 – Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.

After chewing on these verses for a while it hit me that in them there is a great promise and a required protocol.

The promise – In Christ we do not have to walk in darkness… AND… If we abide in His word we will know the truth and be free.
The protocol – Think before I act.

Previously, I have only thought of the promises in John 8 in regards to our eternal position before the Lord – which I believe to be true of these verses – but it struck me as I read the verse in Proverbs that the reason we should “Ponder the path” of our feet (think before we act) is so that we might – walk in the light AND know the truth – in every decision we make.

Is it possible, that for a follower of Jesus, the only wrong decisions we should make be disobedient ones? Is it possible that these promises of Jesus apply to more than just our eternal spiritual position but also to our daily decisions? Is it possible that the key to unlocking these promises in my daily decisions is as simple as thinking before I act?

I am hoping and trusting that as I learn to be disciplined enough to actually think before I act (which for me is a continuous challenge) that the Lord will cause me to walk in the light and know the truth. If that is true then all the decisions I have before me will really boil down to just one decision – no matter the situation or the circumstances – to either be obedient or not.