Build me an Ark

At the beginning of this year, it was said on the TV that the rate of crime nation-wide has decreased. That was great news, wasn't it? One of higher police officers from the Des Moines area (Iowa-United States) said that they actually increased their presence in a lot of places. That could be the reason why crime and violence were not as bad as the year before. Violence, immorality, and evil are still prevailing in the human hearts and communities.

There are similarities between what we are experiencing now and what took place during Noah's time, a story we find in Genesis chapters 6 to 8. The situation of humans became a concern in God's sight, like today's is. When everyone else was living according to their desires and inclinations of their hearts, there was a man who was righteous and who walked with God. Today, I will compare him with you and I, people who know about God and His word; people who have a Bible, which is God's word.

Noah is the guy, God will approach to ask him to build an ark. He did it the way God told him to do. Do you not think that the world today also needs an ark? Yes, God is asking you to build Him one.

There is much violence, corruption, greed, lust and evil out there. The ark is the only place where people can find refuge and what they cannot get from the world. But God needs someone to do it for the sake of the world.

One of the instructions, God gave Noah as he was building the ark was that there should be many rooms in the ark. Remember that Jesus said that in His Father's house there are so many rooms. As Christians, we should make room for others to come into the house of the Lord. If you are sitting at church in the fellowship room, always leave an empty chair for one more person. This is just an example telling us that closed circles do not exist in God's plan for humanity.

All kinds of animals and birds were in the ark. That's interesting, isn't it? I guess at some point lions could have been served the same food that goats would eat. It was a time of no complaints. What I visualize is that all bears with everyone else. Unconditionally accepting one another the way we are is something the church needs to be a real ark for the world today. Change happens only when people get into the ark.

Why would you want people to be like you before they even join your church or group? Notice that in the ark there were clean and unclean animals. This means that no matter who we are, we should always be welcomed into God's community. The church has become so judgmental that people go away and leave. God is the one who changes hearts of people. That's God thing. Why not leave it to Him and do our business, which is to build a place that will be welcoming to ALL humans?

When like Noah, we provide a side door, not a front or a back door, people will be able to come into our church. No one ever wants to use the front door of a church. It does not even work that way. That will be very disturbing to the person walking in and the people in worship. The back door is often referred to as what people use to leave the church. We lose people through the back door. These could be the reasons why God did not want Noah to have a back or/and front door, but just a side door. That's what we need at our church or in our Christian communities, which could be a covenant, small or study group.
Whatever church, community or group you belong to, may you build an ark for God to welcome the depressed, the hungry, the needy, the homeless and the lost!

Be Blessed and always of good Courage!

Emmanuel T Naweji