2023 Daily Lenten Journey – Day 12

To have a the greatest benefit from the story of salvation in Genesis, the beginning of our human journey to heaven, our 2023 Daily Lenten Journey theme is to read every reading from the perspective of salvation, rather than condemnation. Put another way, every time humanity is in jeopardy of eternal condemnation, God steps in and saves us.

Humanity had degraded by the time of Noah to the point of risking our salvation. It got so bad, God decided to ‘start over’ and destroy human beings from the face of the earth. The good news for humanity, and the story of our salvation, was the Noah found favor with God.

After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose.  Then the LORD said, “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.  The LORD 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 the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 5:32-6:8

As we approach the end of the second week of Great Lent, we are invited to take note of God’s constant dedication to our salvation. In just one week of readings, we went from Adam and Eve leaving the Garden and giving birth to their first child, to the entire human race at risk of annihilation. Despite the constant degradation of humanity from glory to wickedness, God never forgets us.

I invite you today to think of your story. Think of the past two weeks as your story from your creation, through your failings, to your promise of salvation from God. This is the challenge of Great Lent. It isn’t just a to fast. It is a time for us to ‘find favor with God.’

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (see Romans 3.23) Still, God has never abandoned us. He will never forget us. Let’s make a change. Our goal should be to find favor with God. That will mean changing our attitude. Instead of wickedness, we need to strive for holiness. This is the true journey of Great Lent.