The story of Noah is probably a story that anyone can teach to little children. God called Noah to build an ark, include pairs of each animal and encourage others to go with him. People thought he was crazy, but since Noah was a just and obedient man, he took care of the ark. His ark was a mark of faith and obedience to God, despite the messiness that people were involved in at the time. During Noah’s generation, the people were involved in many bad things, which is why the Lord wanted to clean the land. Aren’t we as sinful creatures involved in some bad things? We are so blind-sided by what the world has shown us as something normal, but it is not.
I have been reading a book called More Drops by George Verwer. This book is about how God in His mercy and mystery often does great things in the midst of a mess, that “no matter how filled we are with the Holy Spirit, we are still very human. Our humanness has its beautiful side, as well as its messy side.” This book has challenged the idea of how God works through the messiness. We have all seen that one person in church who is in horrible sin and once it comes out in the light, they are disciplined. Let’s say that the horrible sin is adultery that results in divorce. A few years later you encounter the adulterer with their new spouse working in a good ministry. Shouldn’t that mess up their testimony? See, God is so sovereign and merciful that he used that person’s mess to become a blessing. We, on the other side of the spectrum, still see that person’s sin. We see them as unfaithful and adulterous, when we should forgive and rejoice that God redeemed them.
What is the importance of having a good testimony? Why should we as Christians read Scripture, go to church and exhort our friends if God is going to redeem and make perfections through our messes anyways? I struggled a lot with this question because we as Christians see our non-Christian friends receive blessings, and we want to join our “friends” to be content and well. We want to be like the people in Noah’s times. We get so blindsided from the “beauty” of this world that we are not obedient to God. What happens when we choose to join our “friends?” Yes, the Lord will save and redeem us from the world, but there could be consequences, and, though we might not see it, we must learn and discern the situations we are put in. No matter what happens, we must take care of our testimonies.
Noah’s ark was a testimony of his faith and obedience to God, so I ask you, how is your ark? Is your ark pure, or does it need some cleaning? Like it says in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Maintaining our cleanness and purity could be the best example we could offer to the world.