Journey Through the Bible in a Year
Reading God's Word and learning more about His plan for my life each day!
Thursday, September 12, 2002
Introduction to Journey Through the Bible
A note about online study
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, today’s Scripture reminds us that there is a penalty for sin and evil. In Noah’s day, everyone died except Noah and his family. You saw them as righteous before You, so You made a way for them to continue the line of human beings despite all the evil that we had done. Through Your Son, Jesus, You continue to provide a way out for our sin and evil. In His death on the cross, He built a “bridge” to heaven for us that we may live eternally with You when this life ends. I pray that You may give me, and everyone who bears the name of Jesus, a passion to share this new life with those who haven’t received it. By Your Holy Spirit fill us that we may be winsome and welcome witnesses of Your love and grace. These things I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
My Journey Verses for Today
Genesis 7:1-24
1 Finally, the day came when the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous. 2 Take along seven pairs of each animal that I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. 3 Then select seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that every kind of living creature will survive the flood. 4 One week from today I will begin forty days and forty nights of rain. And I will wipe from the earth all the living things I have created." 5 So Noah did exactly as the LORD had commanded him. 6 He was 600 years old when the flood came, 7 and he went aboard the boat to escape – he and his wife and his sons and their wives. 8 With them were all the various kinds of animals – those approved for eating and sacrifice and those that were not – along with all the birds and other small animals. 9 They came into the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 One week later, the flood came and covered the earth.
11 When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, the underground waters burst forth on the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 12 The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights. 13 But Noah had gone into the boat that very day with his wife and his sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth – and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of breathing animal – domestic and wild, large and small – along with birds and flying insects of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, 16 male and female, just as God had commanded. Then the LORD shut them in. 17 For forty days the floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 standing more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died – birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all kinds of small animals, and all the people. 22 Everything died that breathed and lived on dry land. 23 Every living thing on the earth was wiped out – people, animals both large and small, and birds. They were all destroyed, and only Noah was left alive, along with those who were with him in the boat. 24 And the water covered the earth for 150 days.
Reflecting on God's Word for My Journey
What is the greatest natural disaster you have ever witnessed, either in person or on television? What feelings did it give you as you watched or witnessed it?
A Deeper Exploration of God's Word for My Journey
What does this Scripture tell us is the reason that God spared Noah and his family? (7:1)
What is the end result of this action of God? (7:21-24)
Understanding God's Will for My Journey
What do you think it would have been like to enter the ark and have the Lord seal it behind you, knowing what God’s plan was?
What is the most important detail you find in today’s reading regarding God’s plan for humanity?
Applying What God's Word Tells Me to My Journey
In what ways does your obedience to God reflect the same kind of righteousness that Noah reflected in his life? What do you see from Noah’s example that will help you in living your life today?
My Personal Journey Thought for the Day—“The Consequences of our Actions!”
Early in our lives, wise people tell us that our actions have consequences. Some learn that truth more easily than others. In Noah’s day, apparently everyone had forgotten that actions have consequences. When we sin the reality is that there is always a consequence. Some consequences—such as the destruction of every living being on the planet—are immense and irrevocable. Others are small and may not move us to make the kinds of positive changes that will bring glory to God and benefit us and those around us. But it was the small, everyday decisions for evil in Noah’s day that ultimately brought the whole world to judgment. The same is true in our day. We think that one little sin, one little white lie, one little morsel of gossip shared won’t hurt anyone, won’t make a difference. But each sin, like each drop of rain is added to another, and another, until a flood is the result. (That was the literal result in Noah’s Day!) As we read the account of the flood, we may be overwhelmed at the totality and finality of God’s consequences toward the sin of the world in Noah’s day, but the reality is our world is still being overwhelmed by sin’s consequences. The difference between total destruction and the continuation of humanity was ONE person. In our day we may not think that one person can make a difference, but one person can and does! Will it be you?
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