The Days of Noah

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." -Genesis 6:5-8, KJV

 As God looked upon the face of the earth roughly 4400 years ago, He saw a depraved, wicked humanity. The culture was full of people sleeping around, marrying, divorcing, and remarrying, and just outright debauchery. In addition, sin was all these people could think about. God regretted ever having made mankind in the first place--so, He decided to destroy them with a worldwide flood. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was the only faithful follower of God shown in verses 9 and forward. God showed him grace, allowing us all to be here today. What a wonderful God not to destroy the righteous with the wicked.

However, I notice that as God looks at America today, He must see what He saw 4400 years ago--a depraved, wicked culture. Our society is full of people sleeping around, marrying, divorcing, and remarrying, and just living in all forms of sin and wickedness. Sin surrounds us on television, in our schools, in our churches, and on the Internet. All we can ever think about is sin. I can only assume that God is regretting (or at least beginning to) making America a nation. I wonder how much time we really have left--is He soon to destroy us too? But Americans can find grace in the eyes of the Lord. Salvation is not limited to one--God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. We need to turn back to the One Who made us and wants so badly to show us grace. Will we accept His grace or continue to ignore it and push it aside? He was so gracious in 9/11 in allowing us to contain the casualties. In the recent natural disasters and attacks on our nation, God has spared so many lives. Wake up, America! These are warning shots--just like the first drops of rain just before the Deluge. I'm not trying to diminish the lives that were lost--my heart goes out to the families--but we have to wake up and realize exactly how much God is protecting us. How much more can we push Him out before He takes off His hand entirely? I'd personally rather not find out.

"Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." -Matthew 4:7, KJV