A devotional look at eleven Biblical dads and what we can learn from them.
NOAH
The next Old Testament dad we’re going to look at is Noah. Everybody knows his story.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. (Genesis6:5-9)
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. He was righteous, blameless and he walked faithfully with God. He was all these things when the rest of the world was not. It would have been easy to join with the rest of the worldly crowd, but he loved God… and God rewarded him for his faithfulness. God chose to pluck Noah out of a crowd of “all evil all the time” and God started over with one who was without fault.
And Noah was patient. A detail oriented man who followed instructions well. Do you remember how long it took him to build the ark? 100 years. And why did he do it? Yes, he wanted to save his life. Yes, he wanted to obey God.
Noah was a family man… a good dad.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)
By faith. In holy fear. In awe. In reverence of God and God’s incredible plan to start over. He acted. He built an ark. He did everything as God commanded him. Why? “To save his family.” The faith of this man is astonishing. The love for his wife, sons and their wives is simply amazing. The very first thing he did after getting out of the ark was to build an altar to the Lord… and his sacrifice pleased the Lord.
And it’s because of Noah and his obedience and his faith and his love for his family that God then gave a promise to you and to me: Never again will I curse the ground because of humans… never again will I destroy all live creatures. (Genesis 8:21)
So, may I encourage you today to be a little more like Noah… can you chose to lean into the righteousness of God in the midst of evil? Can you be one who so loves your family you will do the impossible to save them?
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