Scripture: Genesis 8:20, 9:1 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it… Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.”
Devotional: After 150 rainy days of being cooped up with his family and a whole slew of smelly animal pairs (imagine the cacophony of that scene), Noah finally has the opportunity to flee the constrictions of the chaotic ark and experience the warmth of the sun and dry ground. And the first thing he does?
He worships God.
You’d think Noah would be tired of constructing things after 120 years or so of building the ark. But he immediately builds an altar and sacrifices to God in worship. Then God blesses him.
Take a moment to envision that scene. Noah and his family and these animals that now disembark from the ark are the only living things on the earth, aside from the plants that God is now repopulating. What must he be experiencing in that moment? A holy moment it would seem.
God chose Noah, out of all the people on the earth, to do something extraordinary. It’s doubtful it seemed extraordinary at the onset for Noah. In fact, it likely seemed crazy. But Noah yielded to God from the very first calling of God, and he yielded to Him now.
And God blessed Him.
Reflect:
- What crazy thing might God be calling ordinary you to do? Will you, like Noah, yield to Him?