It is very clear that we are in the last days. And these last days, according to the Scriptures, are very dangerous days. (Cf. 2Tim 3:1) They are days that are characterised by shortage of love and surplus of wickedness. They are days of overflowing with deception and abundance of corruption. (Cf. Matt 24:12, 2Tim 3:13)
Nevertheless, we can enjoy God’s overflowing favour in these terrible days. Indeed we need to enjoy His overflowing favour, if we must walk triumphantly in the face of all the evils and corruption of these days. And without His favour, all our efforts towards righteous and upright living can only end in frustration.
Remember what the bible tells us about Noah. The bible says, “But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8NIV) Now this statement was made against the backdrop of the nature of the days in which Noah lived. He also lived in a period that was not much different from ours. He lived at a time that the whole world was so convulsed with wickedness and madness that God sought to destroy it.
As we are told in the bible, God, during those days, was so troubled because of what His man had become that He confessed His regret in making him. That was why He decided to wipe out the entire human race and every other living creature He had made from the face of the earth. (Cf. Gen 6:6-7) Yet, in the face of all the wicked activities of man on the face of the earth, Noah found favour in God’s eyes. And because of that, God sought to protect and preserve him.
Therefore, we must understand that it was not because of any righteousness on Noah’s part that He enjoyed God’s favour. Rather, it was because of God’s favour that came to him, which he, of course, received, that the righteousness of God was revealed to him. Yes, it was because of God’s favour that came to him that the way of salvation was made known to him. So, Noah and his family were able to escape the corruption of the world of his days and the destruction that came along with it because of God’s favour that had they received.
Now we too can experience God’s favour to walk in victory in these last days. Yes, we too can enjoy His immeasurable kindness to live pure, blameless and godly lives in these perilous times. And that is because, according to the Scriptures, these are not only days of wickedness and corruption; they are also days of God’s favour, grace and salvation. (Cf. 2Cor 6:2, Tit 2:11-14)
So, let us, like Noah, by faith embrace God’s provision of favour, grace and salvation for us, as revealed in His word. Let us walk every day with the consciousness that He is always available to make us live lives that are worthy of Him, regardless of the degree of wickedness and corruption we have to deal with in this world. And I am fully persuaded that He will not only keep and preserve us but also bring us safely into His eternal kingdom.
(Adapted from ‘From Pastor’s desk’, Vol. 5, No. 31, Dec 2016)