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.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife and editor of these devotionals. Her dedication is behind the scenes and many times unnoticed, but her impact on these devotionals is without compare! Thank you, Cherish!
Noah believed in something God was going to do in the future, far into the future. He believed in God’s faithfulness so much that, year after year, he worked on building his ark. The funny thing is that the world had never seen a raindrop before, let alone a massive flood that would drown everything expect the inhabitants of the Ark.
So after years and years of preaching the truth to rebellious people, and building an ark in the middle of dry ground and getting ridiculed for it, God came through for Noah.
The flood came and a new people, descendants of Noah, was in charge of populating the earth. This is why they call him the father of righteousness, because he was the only righteous one, he and his family.
Holy fear is different from the fear of this world. It is a fear based on respect for God and a humble, servant-like submission to his calling and his commands. Earthly fear is typically based on the absence of love, because we live in this fallen world. But heavenly fear of God is good and based on a love relationship with him.
We see the effects of Noah’s righteous life here: 1) saving his family, 2) condemning a sinful world through God’s call on his life, and 3) leaving a legacy of righteousness that has lasted until this very day. WOW! Quite the legacy, and God gets the glory.
Lord, thank you for Noah’s faithfulness. I shudder to think of the world without his righteous obedience to your call. May I fear you more than anything in this world and accomplish your righteous plans. The rewards of your righteousness dwarfs the worldly accolades I would receive by conforming to its evil ways. Praise your name!
