Thoughts from January 3 Bible Reading

January 3, 2018

Reading: Genesis 8-10; Matthew 3

As always, there is so much to the reading that it is impossible to comment on each part in this format.  The goal here is to help us think through some of the things that God is showing us in His Word to which we can personally respond.  So, these are devotional thoughts from the passage.  Of course, there is no substitute for each of us reading the passage, allowing God to speak truth into our lives.  I hope the Lord is blessing you as you meet Him daily in His Word.

Genesis 9:21 (CSB)

²¹He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Genesis 8-10 finishes the account of Noah and the flood.  God shows us in His word that Noah was a godly man who found favor with the Lord.  Noah obeyed God; building the ark and gathering his family and the animals as God had instructed (I am sure the rest of the people of the earth mocked him and thought he had lost his mind). Noah experienced the grace of God as he and his family were spared while God’s wrath destroyed the rest of mankind.  So, finding Noah drunk and naked in his tent is very surprising.  Seeing his son, Ham, act wickedly is also surprising because he had experienced these things along side his father and brothers.  Why does this godly person sin so easily? 

Of course, this is the same question I constantly ask about myself.  Why, after experiencing salvation through Christ, and so much of the goodness of God, do I find sin so attractive and easy to commit?  I often feel like Romans 7 was written about me (look it up).  Yet, we are foolish to think that we cannot sin as easily as Noah and Ham did here.  Galatians 5 describes the internal struggle Christians face as the Spirit wages war with the flesh, and vice versa.  For the saved, God has given us the grace and power to resist the sinful desires in our lives, yet our sinful flesh will still long for those things that are evil in the sight of God.  

Oh Lord, please give us an extra measure of grace today to recognize how easy it is for us to sin and to take extra precautionary measures to be diligent in our struggle against sin. 

Matthew 3:8–9 (CSB)

⁸Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.

⁹And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.

God sent John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of the Messiah.  He baptized people as a sign of their repentance from sin.  As religious leaders came to him, John sternly warned them not to depend on the fact that they were Jews, descended from Abraham, as evidence that they were pleasing to God.  Rather, he called them to personally repent of their sins. 

This is an important word for those of us who are religious today. (I know, I know, it’s not a religion but rather a relationship, but allow me to use the language here).  It may be tempting for us to believe that we are pleasing to God because we are evangelicals, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Presbyterians, or Catholics, or whatever label you want to apply to yourself here.  It may be tempting to believe that because we serve the Lord in some capacity (or have in the past), that we are pleasing to the Lord.  Yet, for me, I need to remember that as important as many of these things are, my personal relationship with the Lord is far more important that the labels to which I cling. 

Are you genuinely saved?  Are you genuinely walking in a right relationship with Jesus?  Are you walking in continual repentance from sin and continual faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?  These are more important that the labels.  

Oh Lord, please give us a fresh and right walk with You today. Amen.