Genesis 6.9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a
righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. - St. Moses
(ESV)
It doesn’t take long in the Biblical narrative to see
that things have gone wrong. In Genesis 3 man falls. In Genesis 4, the first
recorded murder and the generations of Cain. In Genesis 5 there seems to be the
reality of birth, but also death. In Genesis 6 God speaks and says that He is
disappointed with the choices of man and therefore man is only going to live so
long, and last so long. Except.
Except: “These are
the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation.
Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6.9) What’s up with Noah? I think when you
consider Noah’s lineage, it appears he was of the line and lineage of choice: I choose to follow God. (I suppose the
other lineage was, I choose to follow me.)
Noah’s life and worldview was, I cannot
make it on my own – I need to follow God as my ancestors did.
As God looks down upon the race of men, how does He view
this current generation so far removed from Noah and his generation? Are we
people of choice in a world full of those who choose to go it on their own, or
are we sometimes choosing God when the chips are down and forgetting about Him
when times are “good”? Noah was called righteous and blameless and one who
walked with God. Who are we?
The difficulty of thinking these kinds of thoughts is
that it may lead us to believe we are in a tenuous place in our relationship
with God; that our stance only ever unstable ground. It might be, were it not
for the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise of Jesus that He will be
with us and in us. But what about the choices we make? What about the influence
of our culture (both present and global) upon us? Where do we draw the line and
say, “Father God, like Noah, I choose to
be blameless, righteous, and to walk with You in all I do!”? I think what
set Noah apart was his choice to serve God.
Now, we must remember that all of Noah’s life was
pre-Law; there was no Torah or Pentateuch in Noah’s day – he chose to follow
the culture of his ancestors. (Who seemed in varying degrees to choose to live
the way they thought God wanted them to.) They chose God over the rest of the
crowd.
Even in our day when it seems there is no direct call to
build literal Arks, there is a call to follow God and do as He desires. That
calls for choice and that calls for the strength and presence of the Holy
Spirit. Thank God for that.
These present moments are the so-called moments of
resolution; a time of our year to resolve to do things differently, hopefully
better, and with meaning and purpose. We seem to think we can only do this one
time of year and hope not to run out of steam at some future point down the
road. I think it may well be the time to rethink that a little, and say like
one wise person once said, “A year from
now, you will wish you had started today.”
O Lord, may it be so in my life – starting today! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment