It’s a profound statement, but there is no love without the freedom of choice. Without options, there is no ability to choose to love or not to love. Mankind often uses our God-given freedom to turn from God (who is love) more often than to Him. When we turn from God, it’s difficult for us to act selflessly. When people and societies turn away from Him, evil becomes the norm. In the days of Noah and his family, the people turned so far away for so long that there was so much heartache, pain (especially for the innocents), and destruction. God decided to start over again, only sparing Noah and his family. Most of us know the story: the ark took over 100 years to build but it was the very thing that saved them from the storm.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
The Design of Our Ark
We are the builders of our arks; like Noah’s ark, it keeps us safe and secure from judgment and those who are perishing. Just as the seas tossed the ark back and forth, we live in this world and are affected by the storms. The rest of humankind died in the flood. Our ark is our faith; it protects us and preserves our lives. God gives us the blueprint in many places, like 2 Peter 1:5-7. We build our faith by gathering and building onto our faith like Noah gathered materials and built upon God’s design. God is gracious to come alongside us and doesn’t mind when we ask for help because our faith is weak.
“…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
2 Peter 1:5-7
The First Ever
Noah didn’t even know what a boat was; it was the first boat ever built. After God shut the door, no one had seen rain before that fateful day. God’s work is always new. Like Noah, we don’t know precisely what our ark as a finished product will look like. However, we can follow the blueprint of the designer, creator, and inventor; it will work out for our good as we follow His instructions. God loves us so perfectly and beautifully that He joyfully looked to and endured the pain of the cross. He knew that His pain and sacrifice meant our forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with Him. The poem below is a prayer to God and God’s voice back to us. I pray it blesses you as He reminds you that when you give your life to Him, you are closed in and preserved within His care, promises, and love.
“…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2
