Devotional for December 7th
Noah did everything the Lord commanded Him to do.
Genesis 7:5
PAUSE: After the first sin, almost everyone in the world was living in disobedience to God. But there was one man who loved and obeyed God. His name was Noah, and God had a special plan for him. God told Noah there would be a storm that would flood the earth and wash away all sin. God told Noah to build a big boat called an ark. He assured Noah that He would keep his family safe from the storm in the ark. God also told Noah He was going to send two of every kind of animal to the ark. Even though rain had never fallen to the earth before and people said Noah was crazy, Noah obeyed God anyway. Noah cared more about what God thought rather than what people thought.
Once the ark was ready, Noah’s family and all the animals climbed inside the ark and God closed the door. Then, as God said it would, it rained for forty days and forty nights and the land was flooded. But God kept His promise and kept Noah and his family safe the entire time. When the rain stopped and the sun came out, Noah sent a dove to explore. The dove came back with an olive branch, meaning there was a living tree and dry land for them. Noah praised God for keeping His promise. Then God revealed a rainbow in the sky and made another promise to never flood the earth again. Even though people would still choose to disobey God, God was planning to send Jesus to flood the people’s hearts with forgiveness and mercy. He was planning to give His people “new” hearts.
PRAY: Thank you God for giving us Noah as an example of obedience. Thank you for sending a rainbow as a physical sign of your promise to us. And thank you for sending Jesus so that we can be with you forever. Amen.
FAMILY ACTIVITY: Get a box and pretend it’s an ark. Gather your child’s stuffed animals and have someone pretend to be Noah and walk all the animals into the ark!