Every few years, we get caught up in the Olympics. Races....Gymnastics....Basketball...and Track and Field. We see the best athletes from around the world come together to compete and represent their countries.
I guess such events as this could be called the pinnacle of human effort.
The fastest man or woman....
The strongest man or woman....
It truly is a celebration of the human will and ability.
Medals are given out to those who win.....gold, silver and bronze....
Those who lose are left with a bitter memories of what might have been.
I can't imagine training for years....all the effort....all the sweat and tears.....to see it all go away in a matter of seconds.
Some say the spirit of the Olympics is the competition. I guess their right in some ways.
It is the idea of giving your best, no matter how you finish.
But this old world doesn't remember who came in fifth in the 100 meter dash.
It does not celebrate the one who fell off the balance beam or finished last in a swimming event.
It is about the human will to overcome and succeed.
What about character?
What about the integrity of the individual?
What if we held an Olympics and gave medals to those who overcame or persevered because of character. To celebrate those who were not tainted by the world around them.
I always think of Noah when it comes to character.
Here was a man living in a time defined by God as being so corrupt and evil that only one man on the entire planet was worth saving.
People had no morals, even though they probably patted each other on the back and had testimonials as to how great they were.
Peoples hearts were turned to contemplate and think on evil 24/7...365.
It was probably the darkest time the world has ever experienced.
Yet such a time is coming and yet may be here already.
Jesus spoke of this in Luke 17:22 - And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
The ark is a symbol or representation of Jesus. In Him we find safety and security against the judgment that is coming to this world. Men's hearts and minds will once again be filled with evil and their lives testimony to the darkness of their hearts.
Jesus will return to this earth to judge those who have rejected Him.
To give back to those who merely mouthed the words and thought they were saved, but their lives gave no evidence that they were.
Jesus will become an ark to those who have surrendered will and life over to His care.
He will be a safe place to those who have had a change of character and who, like Noah, have become a "just" people. A perfect, or complete, people. People who walk with God. These are the ones that God communicates with. These are the ones who have placed themselves in Christ and live above the evil and darkness, walking daily by God's Holy Spirit.
I want what Genesis 6:8 says. That in his day, during the most incredible moral vacuum that ever existed on this planet.....But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Did Noah find grace because of anything he had done?
No.
Noah found grace because of what he had become....an man of character who saw the value in walking with God........and then did it.
God on you.....
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