WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Before you read today, try to envisage yourself as a tiny, vulnerable being, safe on this planet only because of your God’s tender, loving care. Essential but terrifying Water is truly one of God’s essential blessings. It was there before life on earth; daily it refreshes and sustains us. It was not incidental that our original garden was designed around rivers and streams. Conversely, there are few things more terrifying than the force of water out of control. Many scientists see excess water (or lack of it) as among the deadliest threats of our age. Modern events give us some insight into the total devastation wrought upon the lives of this society in the days of Noah. Putting things right It is clear that the writer of this story wants us to properly understand the righteous and uncompromising wrath of God in the face of the sin he has seen on earth. Yet this passage marks the turning point. Now God remembers Noah. This is not to suggest his faithful friend had slipped his mind for 150 days. Rather, God chooses this time to focus upon his people’s needs. It’s his creation and he is the one to decide when to put it right. Now he is mindful: steadily through the accounts of the healing wind and the journeys of the raven and the dove, God restores his order – and does so joyfully. Respond: Note God’s sensuous delight in the scent of Noah’s offering. How would you describe his feelings in verses 16 and 17? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-01-11