Obedience is the key!
Are you familiar with Noah?
Scripture tells us that evil had grown to such an extent on the earth that God was sorry he ever made humanity! What?! (I wonder if He has those thoughts of us today, sometimes?)
BUT, in the midst of this catastrophe….he saw Noah!
Noah found favor with God. Noah was the epitome of morality and goodness! Of all the thousands of people on the earth, there was ONE!
It makes you wonder just how narrow this path is we walk that Matthew 7:13-14 speaks of: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (Vs14 ), “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
The result of Noah’s obedience was that he and his entire family were saved from the flood that destroyed every other living thing on earth!
God notices an obedient person:
-One who loves Him and models his love, compassion, empathy on this earth.
-One who is self-controlled, faithful, kind, patient, full of love, joy, & peace.
-One who puts others needs before their own.
Obedience to God produces these actions/emotions!
When you love God, you want to obey him. The longer you walk with the Lord the more you realize all he has done for you, His ways are better than our ways. Noah knew this!
God says in John 14:15- “If you love me, keep my commands.” Faithfulness comes from being obedient to God. As we learn to obey we learn to be wise. Our ultimate responsibility is to love an obey God above all else.
I John 5:3- Loving God means doing what he tells us to do. The Bible is our manual. It instructs us in the ways of Christ.
The direction we seek is found in His word. Psalm 100:2 instructs us to obey God gladly. Noah did this without hesitation. He followed through with the building of the ark even with the criticism and skepticism he endured!
Just like in Noah’s day, God is looking for obedient servants-he rewards obedience! Just like we reward our children for their obedience, God recognizes an obedient child.
When we are obedient, we experience far fewer problems in our life journey. Ephesians 6:1 says it best, “Obey your parents and it will go well for you!” If we strive to obey our heavenly Father, it too will go well for us! Noah and his family were saved from the flood for heaven’s sake!
Do you want to be a “Noah?”
A little girl sitting in time out looks at her dog and says, “It’s easy for you! You’ve been to obedience school!” LOL
We may not go to obedience school but we do have a manual to follow. The Bible. God lays out specific directions on how to follow his will! Let it be your guide!