Verse for the Day, 24 February 2014.

Genesis 8:20-22  Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  (21)  And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.  (22)  While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."

 

We see God’s grace, mercy and patience being demonstrated in this passage. Although God’s actions in sending down the flood were entirely just, we see further demonstration of God’s desire to see man live, to see man come to salvation, rather than for man to perish in his sinful condition. We are no better than the people who lived prior to the flood and received God’s judgement against their sin, the only difference between them and us, is that God has decreed to stay his hand of wrath and judgement until an appointed time. Not only has God stayed His hand of final judgement until an appointed time, He has also provided another ark, a source of rescue and salvation from this judgement, the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be filled with thankfulness on a daily basis that God is as patient as He is with us, even when we sin repeatedly, furthermore we should be thankful that He has drawn us into salvation, into Christ, who is and shall be our Saviour and refuge from the coming wrath of God.

 

Patient and Longsuffering Father, how we thank You that You endure with us each and every day, especially in the times when we sin against You. In the words of the Psalmist we thank You, that You do not treat us as our sin deserve. We thank You that You not only spare us in this life time, but have worked in grace and mercy to save us from Your final, full and eternal judgement against our sin. Thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ who rescues us from our sin and the coming flood of Your judgement. Amen