Heedless living

‘As it was in the time of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. Everybody kept on eating and drinking, and men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat and the flood came and killed them all.’ (verses 26,27)

Read Luke 17:20-37

‘Life must go on’ is the catchphrase we often hear, especially after a disaster. Few people stop to heed what God might be saying to them after such an event. Few people stop to heed God’s warnings. It’s the same today as it was in the time of Noah. Nothing has changed.

God gave the people plenty of warning through Noah. The people probably thought, ‘Here’s another weirdo. Fancy building such a huge boat so far from the sea.’ We would probably have done the same if we had been there, and we would have got on with our own lives. How hard it would have been to believe what Noah had predicted. How many of us heed the warnings of God’s word? I wonder how many of us listen to the street-corner preachers, who often preach doom and gloom as we scurry past on whatever occupies our thoughts at the time. We may even think them weirdos.

Today we have God’s word, our pastors, teachers, Bible study leaders. How much do we listen to them? Noah listened to God’s word and obeyed. We may not have to build an ark, but we do need to build a relationship with our Lord and Saviour. We need to heed his word and obey.

Lord, forgive me for my heedless living. Help me to listen to you and to build, not an ark, but a closer relationship with you. Amen.

by Merna Thamm, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)

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