Genesis 7:1-24
Everybody knows about Noah and the ark. You might even hear this story told, when you are not at church. Yes, everybody knows about this story, but not everybody believes that it is true (can you believe that?). Yes, this is a true story about real people, a real big boat, real animals, and really a lot of water! This true story is about two very real things. First, it is about God who does not like wickedness (v. 23). God’s dislike of the world’s ways shows us His righteousness and glory. Second, it is about how God loves His people so much that He saves them. In this story God loves and saves through families (v.1,7,13,23). You need to know that His saving grace is commonly given to people in their families. Aren’t you glad you live in a family who loves God (and His Son, Jesus)? So what are we to do to show God our love for Him? Our Heavenly Father desires us to be righteous (v.1) as Noah was righteous. For us, that means we are to believe in Jesus and trust in Him.
God Remembers Noah
Genesis 8:1-19
Do you have a good memory? Probably, sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t! We usually have a good memory for things like taking time to play, making sure we watch television, or even remembering about our favorite subject in school (like recess, just kidding). But we don’t have a good memory for really hard things like making our bed, cleaning our room, doing math homework, or obeying our parents. Aren’t you glad that God has a perfect memory (v.1)? God remembers His promises. He has made a covenant with us (like He did with Noah). Some of what “a covenant” means is that God makes promises (and remembers them). God is a promise-keeper. God has promised to be our God through all types of situations - good and bad. In this story, God remembered Noah and saved Noah’s family by sheltering them in the ark. Today, God promises to shelter us as we commit our lives to Christ. May we seek the shelter of Christ often. We can remember to be patient just as Noah did in the days when the waters were going down. We tend to forget our faith in times of great floods (when things are hard for us). But remember just like God sheltered Noah and his family during the great flood and brought them safely to dry land, He will care for you. May we remember God and His promises, like He remembers us.
Praying
Matthew 6:5-24
What is God’s most favorite thing? I’m not exactly sure what God would choose, do you? I can guess! Since God is love, maybe His most favorite thing is for us to love Him back. Or since God made us “in His image,” maybe His most favorite thing is for us to reflect His image to our friends. Or since God sent his only Son to earth, maybe God’s most favorite thing is for us to believe in Jesus. Or since God is a Spirit and cannot be seen, maybe His most favorite thing is for us to trust in Him instead of only those things that we can see (which is very hard for us to do). All of these things are good, don’t you agree? Even so, I wonder if He would choose “praying?” I think God loves for us to speak with Him by praying. It must be among His most favorite! When we pray we are reminded that God is with us and is not absent from our lives (v.10). When we pray we show our abiding faith and dependence upon Him (v.11). When we pray our faith is helped. In this story, Jesus is teaching us (through His disciples) how to pray (vv.9-13). To pray means that we are hoping in the care and deliverance provided by our Savior. We are reminded that we are God’s children when we pray. We must desire to be faithful in prayer. A good prayer life helps us to remain focused upon God and it helps us to be relying on His care. God is big and we can talk with Him at any time, I think prayer is one of God’s most-favorite things.
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