Passage Read: Genesis 5-8
Meditation Verse: 7:23
Thought
How many countless people, how many countless animals and birds and other creatures died in this flood? Only a small portion was saved: 8 people, 2-14 of each kind of animal and bird and other creatures. A tiny portion of the total alive at the time the flood came. These are not good odds. "As in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Or as Isaiah repeats, "Only a remnant will be saved." God was willing to destroy all these people because they willfully corrupted themselves and showed no interest in the ways of God. They treated their lives and the world as if it was theirs and theirs alone. They had no regard for their Creator or the Creator of all they used and inhabited and enjoyed. So God wiped them out, giving a shocking reminder to the generations to come of who was in charge and to whom all flesh must give account. Mercy lasts for a time, but not forever. Those who trample on God's mercy instead of taking warning and turning to Him who created them, to whom they owe all things, these will be justly destroyed. And the great tragedy is how many will be destroyed and how few saved.
Application
As much as I desire to invest in those who are truly responsive to the Lord, as hard as I work to create the perfect system of selection and the perfect environment for spiritual growth, the sad truth is that only a few will be saved. Scripture says that rules and regulations are created for lawbreakers, and I'm beginning to think that that means the value of rules is to discern who is obedient and who is rebellious. The rebellious care nothing for the rules and break them without remorse, the righteous humble and submit themselves to the rules. Rules have value not in restraining bad behavior, but in revealing humble hearts. They have value in identifying who should be removed and who should remain welcome, but that doesn't mean I need to go around enforcing every rule, but rather looking for those who humbly submit and giving more of my time and attention to them, and identifying those who do not have a heart to obey, so that I can remove them from me or me from them.