"Without faith it is impossible to please [God]. "
Hebrews 11:6
THAT'S RIDICULOUS!
Read It: Genesis 6:13-14, 22; Hebrews 11:6-7 This week we've been dealing with the necessity of faith. Next week we'll consider faith's anticipation as we continue learning to tend and grow our faith. Abel showed us the necessity of faith in our worship, Enoch in our walk. Today, through the eyes of Noah, we see the necessity of faith in our work. Notice that Noah acted after "being warned by God about things not yet seen" (v 7). Remember what faith is? "The conviction of things not seen" (v. 1). This dimension of faith takes on added meaning in Noah's case. Noah had never seen rain because it had never rained before. He's living in an area where in all probability he's never even seen a seagoing vessel. Yet God said, "I'm going to destroy the world. Build a boat." Now if there was ever a time when it would be hard to act in faith, this was it. Noah was the only saint around. You think you've got it tough being a Christian. Well, at least there is another one next to you. In Noah's day-it-was him and his household-that's it. If there was ever a man who had a reason to complain, it was Noah. "God, it's too wicked out here to be righteous!" But Noah doesn't complain, plain, doesn't whimper. He obeys. He does what God tells him even though it seems ridiculous. We can only imagine the ridicule he endured. All Noah had going for him was a four-word sermon: "It's going to rain." All he had going for him was the prophecy of God: "One day the sky's going to open up, and it's going to rain. Now, Noah, you only have one question to answer. You don't need to go to meteorology school. You don't need to analyze the weather.
What you need to decide is, am I trustworthy?" worthy?" Here's what I want to ask you today. What "ark" has God called you to build? What ridiculous thing has He called you to do? What crazy command mand has He asked you to follow through on? What seemingly imbecilic instruction does He want you to carry out faithfully? And what ridiculous ridicule are you undergoing? Think About It If you're going to live by faith, you'd better learn to discount other people's opinions and mark up the value of God's Word.
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