Noah built an ark, a giant boat. Why? Because God told him too. It took him 120 years to build it, piece by piece. All the while he begged a godless nation to repent and turn to God before it was too late…
We all know the story. We heard it as children and drew cute little pictures of a big boat with animals marching inside. However, I’m fairly certain the reality of that day wasn’t cute at all. God told Noah, “I’m going to send a flood.” Nothing too extreme sounding to us. But imagine a world that had never seen such a flood. It was a totally foreign concept. Noah was far away from any large body of water. I'm sure the people thought Noah was a crazy old man. I have to think that even Noah probably found the idea incomprehensible. Noah had no physical evidence to confirm God’s promise of judgment. But, he built the ark anyway. Noah believed God, simply took Him at His Word.
So, Noah built a boat, and all the while he proclaimed the coming of God's judgment. In the end, the only ones who got on Noah’s boat were his sons and all the wives. The part I find so interesting here is that the Bible doesn’t speak of Noah’s sons’ faith. It doesn’t say that his family was righteous. In fact, it says that Noah alone served the Lord. Why then did those boys get on that boat? I think perhaps it was because they saw their father’s faith at work. Noah didn’t just say, “Alright boys, YOU need to be obedient,” while he sat back and procrastinated doing the work. No, Noah believed God and obeyed.
For 120 years Noah’s boys watched their father labor. They listened to him share the truth of God’s word. Then came that fateful day. The day of decision: choose to believe God, believe the unbelievable, and get on the boat with their father, or choose to stay where they were, a familiar place that they called home. Remember, there was no physical evidence that the flood was coming. All they had to go on was God’s word and Noah’s faith in that Word. What would they choose? They chose to get on the boat.
That begs the question who would follow me onto the boat? Obviously, God hasn’t asked me to build a literal boat, but He has asked me to do many other things, things that don’t always make sense. There are so many people who have the opportunity to watch us, our children, our students, our coworkers, and families. They watch to see if our faith is being put to work. Do our actions match our words? Do our words match the faith we claim? They watch me “build my boat.” Is my faith evident enough in my life that when those watching me reach a point of decision they want to choose faith too?
Noah’s personal eternity was secured in his relentless heart for God. God could have miraculously saved him and his wife leaving the two of them to repopulate the earth, thus providing a line for the Messiah to one day come. God could have done it that way, but instead He told Noah to build a boat. Because of Noah’s faith his sons were given an opportunity to obey too. God used Noah to reach Noah’s sons, and eventually all of us through Jesus. I want to be faithful. I want to build boats that don’t make sense so that my children see God’s hand on me and follow Jesus too. I want them to see my faith at work, and place their own faith in Him. I want my obedience to encourage theirs.
God doesn’t need me, not really. He could always use someone else. But, I don’t want Him to. I don’t want Him to have to pass an assignment on to someone else because my faith isn’t deep enough or my efforts not strong enough. I don’t want my kids to miss God’s blessing because I wasn’t willing to put forth the work.
What about you? Are you putting your faith to work? Is there evidence in your life of “boats” being built? Who is watching you? Will they get on the boat too? Is your faith evident enough in your life that when those watching you reach a point of decision they want to choose faith too?
I pray that we as a church will all be busy "building the boats" God has called us to build and that we will be constantly calling others to follow us aboard.
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