Just as

DEVOTION

GENESIS

JUST AS

Gen 6:22

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

NIV

We just saw how God gave Noah an exacting set of instructions for how he was to be saved from the impending destruction God was going to bring upon all mankind because of their wickedness. They all had corrupted their ways, leaving or ignoring God. What we do not know is if Noah asked any questions. We do not know if Noah attempted to change God’s mind, as Abraham did about Sodom and Gomorrah. But what we do know is that Noah did everything just as God commanded him. This means, according to the Hebrew word, he did the whole, all, everything. This means he left nothing out. He did not interject some of his own plans, his own ideas, or anything that was not exactly the way God told him. Noah did everything just the way God told him. This should be enough of a lesson for us for the rest of our lives. Do we do everything exactly the way God commanded us to? Do we interject some of our own ideas, or plans into the way God instructed us to live? It would seem because of the wide difference of opinions as to what the scripture says regarding how we are to live, some of us have done just that. We have incorporated some of our own ideas or plans into how we read the scriptures, using them to prove our way is the right. But have we used a misinterpreted view to prove our rightness? As exacting as God gave Noah these instructions to build the ark, he gives us just exacting instructions to both gain eternal life and to live in this present one. What we have to do is to do everything just as God commands us to. Sometimes that is difficult because what he wants us to do does not agree with the general consensus of the world. Certainly building a boat where there is no water, and because something is going to happen that has never happened before, rain, and would seem to go against all the world believed. God does expect us to trust him rather than our human instincts. God expects us to do everything, not some of the things, not partially, but the whole of what he has commanded us to do no matter how unpopular or odd it might seem to the world. This also means we cannot approach the scriptures with our preconceived notions, or filters based upon our own beliefs. We need to see the truth just as God instructed it to be recorded, with his intent for how we are to be saved and live. Some would leave portions of scripture out, pointing out that was just for one time, or this ended with the apostles, or some other reason not to follow all the commands of God completely. The point is as we said in the beginning, we need to do everything just, exactly as, God commands us to. There can be no fudging, no give and take, no bargaining, no compromising, no cheating, no giving up. We need to do everything just as God commands us to.