Devotion
If God wanted to start all over, would you be spared?
David Jacobs
My son loves to play video games. In some games, he would make a character that he uses throughout the entire game, and as he progresses, the character gets better. Whenever he makes a mistake or if he dies, he can go back to a point in the game where he saved it, so that he doesn't have to start over from scratch. It saves him a lot of time, and it makes me wonder how humans' behaviors would change if we had a similar "save game" feature. We would be more willing to make mistakes, hurt ourselves and others, and to die. We only have one chance to start over, one chance at a life eternal, so we need to make this one life count.
It may feel that we are surrounded by evil in today's world: violence, greed, and lust are obvious in nearly every part of society. Earth in Noah's time was similar, and God had seen enough. Like my son's video games, God has the ability to start over whenever he wants. Unfortunately for anyone living in Noah's time, they do not have the same luxury. God decided to wipe the corruption, evil, and violence from the world and start anew with his one player.
Noah was devoted to God, so God established an agreement with him. As we all know, God tasked Noah with the responsibility of making an ark as well as gathering two of every living thing on it. Noah obeys, and his devotion leads to his life and his families live being spared. I ask you, believers of the word of Christ: is today's society so different from society during Noah's time? Does corruption, evil, and violence not permeate every facet of our lives? We know that a day of reckoning is coming for the wicked. God will come to judge them. We cannot just hit the reset button, we cannot load from a save point. We have one chance to establish a covenant with God. As Christians, we should be eternally grateful to have this chance at all.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, deliver me from evil. Forgive me, merciful God, for I know I have not been free of sin. With every fibre of my being, I long to be like Noah: to establish a covenant with you, and to foster a loving relationship between you and my family. Thank you, Abba Father, my alpha and omega. I will not squander my life. Amen.
Devotion
We will Do It
Why do you obey
Frances Taylor
Moses came down from the mountain and told the people what the Lord had commanded. They all said, Okay! No problem! As we shall see in a few days, that didn't last long. The Israelites said yes over and over to God, and then said, no, over and over again. So much like us! It's a good thing God forgives us over and over again. It is always interesting to read the full account of the commandments and their amplified meaning in Exodus, because it gives an idea of what the civilization was like in those days. The commandments were not all totally new as many of them were based on the code of Hammurabi. The first three commandments were new as they listed the proper behavior towards God. The other seven concerned social behavior and social structure. So, what's the difference between Hammurabi's code and the Ten Commandments other than the first three? The difference is in the why. We don't obey the commandments because they promote civility...
Morning Prayer
Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
Inspiration
Our mouths may be filled with all sorts; idle chatter, gossip, news, profanities or slander. Yet it would be best of all to fill it with praise and love. God gave us our voices to not only communicate, but to choose our words wisely. Don't use it to injure or babble, but to spread his gospel and praise.
Prayer
Lord Almighty I exalt your name on earth as in Heaven. Grant me the wisdom and the will to spread your name and deeds, to use my voice for beauty and truth rather than lies and disparagement. Grant me this Lord, in your holy name I pray, Amen.
