Noah Found Grace

It is noteworthy to consider that those who are seeking heavenly trea-

sure are frequently called by God to make major life alterations here on

earth. Be prepared to face the same thing, if need be.

Read Genesis 6:5–14. What radical changes came into Noah’s life as a

result of obeying God? What principles can we find here for our-

selves in a world that needs to be warned about impending doom?

Noah could have spent his time and resources building a home for

himself, but he chose to make a drastic change in his life and to spend

120 years of that life in following the call of God to build the ark.

Many skeptics today dismiss the story of the Flood as a myth,

often based on scientific speculations about the known laws of

nature. This is nothing new. “The world before the Flood reasoned

that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring

seasons had come in their order. Heretofore rain had never fallen;

the earth had been watered by a mist or dew. The rivers had never

yet passed their boundaries, but had borne their waters safely to

the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their

banks.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 96. Before

the Flood, people argued that a flood could never come based on

a faulty understanding of reality; after the Flood, based on a faulty

understanding of reality, they argue that it never came to begin with.

As the Bible says: “There is nothing new under the sun” (Eccles.

1:9, NKJV).

Meanwhile, the Bible also says that people will be skeptical of end-

time events, as they were of the Flood (see 2 Pet. 3:3–7). How can we,

then, prepare for the coming destruction? There is a conscious decision

called “delayed gratification.” This basically means that we should

patiently do the work God has called us to do in the hope of a more

glorious future reward. We don’t know when Christ will return. In one

sense, it doesn’t matter. What matters instead is that, like Noah, we do

what God asks of us in the meantime, even if, as with Noah, it means

some radical life changes.

How ready would you be to make a major change in your life

for God if, like Noah, you were called to do just that? (Hint: See

Luke 16:10.)