January 19, 2016 (Tuesday)
There is a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark, complete with live animals, in the Netherlands. In addition there is an almost-complete full-size Ark in Kentucky which will be ready for tourists this summer. Evidently, many people are interested in the ark that Noah built thousands of years ago.
Noah is the third historical person mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a person of great faith. His story is told in Genesis 6:5-9:29. Because of mankind’s sin, God sent a flood that covered the earth. He found one righteous man, Noah, and spared him and his family by ordering Noah to built a huge boat called an “ark.” On the day the rains began falling, Noah, his family and a host of animals entered the ark. God shut the door.
The rains came and everyone except Noah and his family were drowned. In time the waters subsided and Noah and his family emerged from the ark to start life on earth again.
The author of Hebrews says that Noah “in holy fear built an ark.” He believed what God told him and obeyed the Lord’s instructions. The old hymn, “Trust and Obey” could have been sung every day of the ark’s construction period. Based on the Genesis descriptions of Noah and his family, scholars have concluded that it took Noah 55-75 years to build the ark. Think back 75 years in your own life, and you can get an idea of how long Noah was out there on dry land building a huge boat. Many say it had never rained on earth, and therefore most people probably concluded that Noah was crazy. But he continued to work, day after day in obedience to God because of his faith.
Obedience is coupled with faith in the teachings of God’s word. If we believe, we obey. If we have faith, our life will show it. If we believe in our heart, we will show it by our works.
We are saved by faith, but that faith manifests itself in works. Noah set the pace for all of us. If we truly believe in the Lord, we get busy doing what He tells us to do.