Daily Devotional
Genesis 7:8-9 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
No one likes to feel like the odd one out or to deal with the pressure that is normally associated with being different. While it can be a lot, we should be mindful that God never called us to fit in. It was for that reason God told the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy 7:3-4 that when they reached the land of Canaan that they should not marry the people of the land nor give their sons or daughters into marriages with them. The message that God was sending them was not to try to fit in and the reason for that instruction was that if they did, the people of the land would stop their sons from serving God. It highlights the real problem with trying to fit in, it will ultimately pull us away from walking consistent with the word of God.
Noah is one of many bible characters who never tried to fit in. Genesis 6 tells us that during his time he was living, the world was described as a place where the wickedness of man was great on the earth. It was to such an extent that the scripture said, “that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually”. Imagine a world in which everything that man thought and did was contrary to the word of God; this was what was happening. The expectation was the same for Noah, he refused to participate in what everybody else was doing. While the context of the world that He was living in was great wickedness, the scripture said of Him in Genesis 6:9, that he was a just man and perfect or righteous in his generation.
Noah stood out in his generation and so should all of us. How can we be like Noah and stand out in our respective generations? The reason Noah could stand out in his generation was because the scripture said of Him in Hebrews 11:7 that he had a holy fear of God. What that meant is that he loved God more than anything else. It was that love for God that allowed him to stand out while ignoring the ridicule and harsh words and could come with it.
Standing out for God has its downside, but it comes with a great benefit, that of finding favor with God. Because Noah chose to stand out, he found favor in the eyes of the Lord and He and his family were saved from the flood.
Life Application: Choose to stand out for God by praying for and taking steps to cultivate a holy fear of God that is evident by you loving God more than all else.
Prayer: Lord, help me to make the choice to be different even when it’s not popular. May my fear of you be more than my desire to please anyone but you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Daily Devotional 
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