Weekly Devotionals -July 20-24
Click the Blue Heading to download the Weekly Devotional
Monday: A Responsibility That Seemed Too Small
John looked up from the couch when Jane and Beth walked through the front door. Ben was asleep beneath a blanket at the other end of the couch. “How is he feeling?” Jane whispered. John told her that his fever was down. He hated missing church, but Ben had needed someone to stay with him. He then asked how the sermon had gone.
Beth sat in the chair across from him and explained that the pastor had preached about Noah. He began with the corruption of Noah’s world. The earth was filled with violence, and every imagination of people’s hearts was evil. John recognized the description from Genesis 6 and remarked that it was a dark time in the Bible’s storyline.
Jane explained that the pastor had asked them to imagine how they would respond to a crisis that large. They might expect God to raise up a mighty warrior, a cultural influencer, or a political mastermind. “But God didn’t do any of those things,” Beth added. “He told Noah to build a boat.”
John smiled. That assignment must have appeared small compared with the condition of the whole world. Jane said that was the sermon’s main point: God’s people fulfill their calling by obeying what God commands, even when the instruction seems too small for the size of the crisis.
“The assignment only seems small when we measure it by human expectations,” John observed. “If building the ark was God’s appointed work, it was the most important work Noah could have done.” Beth remembered how the pastor had pictured the contrast: the world was filled with violence while Noah was cutting wood. Other people appeared to be shaping the world, but Noah was building what God told him to build.
John considered that distinction. Noah did not have to solve every problem around him. He had to fulfill the responsibility God had given him.
What Scripture Says
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them.… Make thee an ark of gopher wood.” —Genesis 6:13–14
God did not hide the size of the crisis from Noah. He told him that the earth was filled with violence and that judgment was coming. God then gave Noah a specific responsibility: build the ark.
Noah could not cleanse every corrupt heart or remove all violence from society. Those responsibilities belonged to God. Noah’s responsibility was to believe God’s warning and obey His command.
We can become overwhelmed when we measure our responsibilities against all the problems in the world. God has not made us responsible for fixing everything. He has called us to obey Him where He has placed us. Faithfulness begins by doing the work God has actually given us.
Tuesday: Obedience Is Success
At breakfast the next morning, John opened his Bible to Genesis 6. Ben was feeling better but remained home from school. Beth sat at the table finishing her breakfast. John said he had continued thinking about Sunday’s sermon and asked what else the pastor had said about God’s instructions to Noah.
Jane poured a cup of coffee and explained that the pastor had distinguished between what God said He would do and what He commanded Noah to do. Beth found the passage in her Bible. “God said, ‘I will destroy them with the earth.’ Then He told Noah, ‘Make thee an ark.’”
John recognized the importance of that distinction. God kept the work of judgment for Himself. He did not appoint Noah to punish the wicked. Beth added that God did not tell Noah to take control of the world before the flood came. God gave Noah one assignment: build a boat.
“We sometimes assume that faithfulness means taking responsibility for outcomes that belong to God,” Jane said. “Noah could preach righteousness and build the ark, but he could not make people believe.”
John agreed. Noah could not produce repentance in another person’s heart, but he could make certain that his own response to God was one of faith. Beth observed that Noah’s work remained important even though he could not control how anyone responded to it.
“Our inability to control the results does not make our obedience unimportant,” John explained. “It reminds us which part belongs to us and which part belongs to God.”
Ben wandered into the kitchen and asked about the conversation. Jane smiled and told him they were learning that Noah did his part and trusted God to do what only God could do.
What Scripture Says
“And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth.… But with thee will I establish my covenant.” —Genesis 6:17–18
God announced the judgment, established the covenant, provided the instructions, and eventually sent the flood. Noah did not accomplish God’s part of the plan. He obeyed God within it.
This distinction protects us from both pride and despair. Pride makes us think God’s work depends upon our power. Despair makes us think obedience is useless when we cannot control the outcome. Faith rejects both errors.
The church must proclaim the gospel, teach God’s Word, make disciples, practice holiness, love its neighbors, and pass the faith to the next generation. We cannot force anyone to believe or guarantee how society will respond. Those results belong to God. Our responsibility is obedience. God remains responsible for accomplishing His purposes.
Wednesday: Noah & Moses Finished The Job God Gave Them
On Wednesday evening, Beth was completing a school assignment at the dining-room table when John entered with his Bible. He had found the verse Jane told him about: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”
Beth remembered that the pastor had also read Genesis 7:5, which says almost the same thing. John turned the page and read it aloud: “And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.” The repetition, he explained, tells readers what God wants them to notice.
“That Noah obeyed?” Beth asked. John nodded. Genesis does not evaluate Noah by telling us how popular he became or how many people approved of his message. It emphasizes that he did what God commanded. Jane joined them at the table and explained that the pastor had compared those verses with the completion of the tabernacle. Scripture says that Moses also completed the work according to everything God commanded. John thought that was a helpful connection. In both cases, God gave detailed instructions for something His people had never built. Faithfulness required them to follow God’s design rather than improve it according to their own preferences.
“Pastor said obedience, not achievement or influence, is what God counts as success,” Beth recalled. John clarified that achievement is not always wrong. The problem is that achievement cannot replace obedience. A person can accomplish something impressive while ignoring what God has said. Another person may faithfully obey God without receiving much recognition.
Noah worked while the people around him continued living as though judgment would never come. God’s Word, rather than public opinion, determined what he did. Noah believed something he could not yet see, which is why Hebrews presents him as an example of faith.
What Scripture Says
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.” —Hebrews 11:7
Noah’s faith was visible in his obedience. He believed God’s warning about an event he had never seen, and that belief moved him to prepare the ark.
Biblical faith is more than agreeing that God’s words are true. Faith acts upon what God has said. Every board Noah placed in the ark demonstrated that he trusted God’s warning more than the apparent stability of the world around him.
We must evaluate success the same way. The central question is not whether our obedience receives attention, produces immediate results, or earns public approval. The question is whether we have trusted God enough to do what He commanded.
Faithfulness may appear ordinary for a long time. Yet no work God assigns is insignificant. When we obey His Word, our lives testify that we believe God and trust the outcome to Him.
Thursday: Noah, A Preacher of Righteousness
On Thursday afternoon, Beth returned from school and found John at the kitchen counter. She had been thinking about something from the sermon. If Noah was not trying to become a cultural influencer, did that mean he had no influence?
John told her that was a good question and asked what the pastor had said. Beth remembered that he called Noah a preacher of righteousness. Noah preached with his words and with his obedience.
“Then the point is not that Noah withdrew from everyone around him,” John replied. “The point is that he did not make public influence the measure of his success.”
Jane entered the room carrying a basket of laundry. She observed that Noah’s ark would have been difficult to ignore. His work supported the warning he preached. Beth recalled the pastor saying that every board Noah cut testified that judgment was coming. The ark showed that Noah truly believed what he was telling others.
John explained that Hebrews says Noah’s faith condemned the world. His obedience exposed their unbelief. Noah took God’s warning seriously while the rest of the world continued as before.
“That makes sense for us too,” Beth said. “If we tell people that Christ is Lord but live as though His commands do not matter, our lives contradict our message.”
John agreed. When Christian conduct agrees with the Christian message, obedience becomes part of the church’s witness. Beth concluded that Christians should influence people, but their goal is faithfulness to God rather than becoming famous or controlling everyone.
Jane told her that was a good way to express it. Christians speak the truth, live consistently with it, and leave each person responsible for responding to God.
What Scripture Says
“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness.” —2 Peter 2:5. Noah’s assigned work did not make him silent. Scripture calls him a preacher of righteousness. He warned others while building the ark God commanded.
His message and conduct belonged together. The ark was evidence that Noah believed judgment was coming and that God had provided a place of safety. His obedience gave credibility to his warning.
The church also bears witness through proclamation and conduct. We preach Christ, and we live under His authority. We tell people that God is holy, so we pursue holiness. We proclaim that Christ changes lives, so we submit our lives to Him. We announce coming judgment and offer the gospel’s hope.
Our witness does not depend upon possessing the greatest platform. It depends upon faithfully proclaiming God’s truth and living in a way that shows we believe it.
Friday: The Work Christ Gave The Church
On Friday evening, the family gathered in the living room. Ben was feeling well again and had spread the pieces of a large Lego set across the coffee table. After hearing the family discuss Noah throughout the week, he had decided to use his collection to build an ark. The hull was already taking shape, although he insisted that finding enough matching brown pieces was harder than building the structure. John told Jane and Beth that he was grateful they had helped him work through the sermon. He had been thinking particularly about the distinction between God’s responsibility and Noah’s. Noah did not have to invent a plan large enough to impress the world. He had to obey the plan God gave him. Beth said the pastor’s application to the church had made that distinction especially clear. Christ has already defined the church’s mission. The church does not need to invent a new purpose every time the culture changes or a new crisis develops. Christians are to preach the gospel, make disciples, baptize believers, teach Christ’s commands, live holy lives, love their neighbors, and pass the faith to the next generation.
John agreed. Those responsibilities were familiar to them, but Noah’s example helped expose how easily Christians can become distracted from them. A church can devote so much attention to gaining influence, answering every cultural controversy, or securing a place of public importance that it begins measuring success by standards Christ never established. Jane added that the sermon did not teach Christians to avoid public life. Believers can serve God faithfully in government, business, education, medicine, the arts, and every honorable occupation. Their service can benefit their neighbors and provide opportunities for Christian witness. The danger comes when the church begins treating control of those institutions as its God-given mission. “Noah’s success wasn’t determined by how many people admired the ark,” Beth said. “God measured his faithfulness by whether he did what God commanded.”
Ben looked up from the Lego ark. “And he kept building even when no one else believed the flood was coming.” John nodded. That was the lesson they needed to remember. Noah preached righteousness and prepared the ark. The church proclaims Christ and calls people to salvation. In both cases, God’s people must obey His Word and trust Him with the results.
What Scripture Says
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them.… Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” —Matthew 28:19–20
Christ has not left His churches to invent their mission. He commands them to make disciples, baptize believers, and teach those believers to observe everything He commanded.
The church must measure success by obedience to Christ, not by how much cultural influence, political power, or public approval it gains. The work Christ assigned may appear ordinary when compared with the size of the world’s problems, but it is eternally important because it rests upon His authority.
Noah’s generation also reminds us that the church’s message is urgent. Judgment came, but God provided a place of safety. The ark directs our attention toward Christ, the only Savior from judgment. We must proclaim Him while the opportunity remains.
The church does not need a more impressive mission. We must believe Christ, obey His commission, and faithfully perform the work He has entrusted to us.