Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Grace in the Eyes of the Lord - Part 3

This is the conclusion of this snapshot of grace from the Old Testament that I started two days ago. Please read those first.

God in His grace gave Noah a sign by placing a rainbow in the sky. Every time Noah saw the rainbow he would be reminded of God’s grace not only in keeping him from judgment but also that He would never judge the world by water again. Can you imagine what it would have been like the first time Noah saw the rainbow? First he saw the clouds gathering again, blocking out the sun, and then he may have seen the streaks of rain in the sky coming from those clouds. I am sure he wondered if the rains were coming again. Then he saw the rainbow and he knew that God would keep His promise. The rainbow was the assurance of God’s grace. God in His grace has given us a sign; it is the seal of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will keep us from the judgment of fire and He will assure us of our safety.

We can see how God measures success. God’s measure of success is faithfulness and not numbers. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” God gives grace to those who are faithful. Noah could have easily become discouraged and quit building the ark; or he could have continued the work on the ark but stopped preaching. Noah continued to do both and in the end only he and his family was saved.

If we are to be successful before God then we must be faithful. God does not measure success as man measures it. God will give grace to all who are faithful.

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