Following Christ-Rediscovering the Jewish Faith of JesusSample

Day 1: Walk with God

Noah’s culture was universally evil. Sometimes, ours feels similar. Why did God save Noah and his family? “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis6:8-9).

He wasn’t the only one to do this. Noah’s great-grandfather, Enoch, had too—and had never died. In a time when people lived about 900 years, Enoch was taken at the tender age of 365! “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24).

Yet, very few did this. Adam and Eve experienced a more literal walking with God than any later people, but hid themselves when they fell. Long afterward, the prophet Micah, clarified God’s desire: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Even though there can be tension between justice and mercy, and it might seem like you can't have both, walking with God remains the ideal. He sorts it out.

No matter how evil we regard our culture, God preserved only Noah’s immediate family. No one else. His father, Lamech, died the year before the flood. His grandfather, Methusaleh, died the same year as the flood—and may have died in it. None of the rest of his family survived. Noah alone was found righteous in God’s eyes. When you're feeling like you’re the only one standing up for God, remember Noah.

Noah was unique in his walk with God. We don’t know how much Noah understood. We have the entire Bible to help us understand God’s ways. Noah didn’t. Based on his actions, Noah knew about sacrifices, and possibly more; we just don't know. God spoke with Noah, and gave him specific directions: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). Noah also spoke out. He was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), urging repentance. We all want to walk with God intimately like Noah—following God’s commands and influencing others in Him.

Just as God saw Noah, He sees us. The word favor in Genesis 6:9 is the first instance of grace in the Bible. God’s grace saved humanity from extermination. His favor was not earned then and it is not earned now. Favor was bestowed upon a heart that believed, a life that sought to walk with Him. God is faithful to “make known” His paths to us, too, just as He did for Noah. “You make known to me the path of life” (Psalm 16:11a).

Reflection

Noah had a heart that sought God. In the face of a culture that only practiced evil, Noah still sought Him, and God saved him and his family! Noah’s story highlights the importance of walking daily with God. Their lives depended on that. Ours do too.

When did you first believe in God? How has He rescued you?

Noah walked with God, and so do we. God’s Holy Spirit within us directs us. What a precious gift this relationship is! If you wanted to encourage someone else to become a Christian, what aspects of your life in Christ would you share with them?

Noah also obeyed God’s direction for this huge building project that probably did not make any sense to those around him. Similarly, unsaved people around us may not understand what we do; the directions God gives us might not make sense to them. Neither will a kingdom focus. This is simply because they cannot yet “see” the kingdom of God. That takes faith. That takes believing in Jesus, so like Noah, we need to stand—in obedience and faith. Has God ever given you direction that made no sense to an unbeliever? How did you handle that.