Turn Around—Don’t Drown

"For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."  Matthew 24:38-39

Where do you find yourself on life’s road today?

As the Texas Gulf Coast begins to prepare for another hurricane season, I am reminded of the admonishment we hear often as hurricanes swell and waters rise in these parts:  Turn around—don't drown.

So it was in the days of Noah, too.  The Holy Bible tells us that Noah was a pleasure to the Lord, the only truly righteous man who lived on the earth at that time (Genesis 6:8-10).  When God told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth by flood and that he was to build the ark, Noah obeyed God.  His obedience was a witness to all around him of God's love, His sovereignty, His plan.  It was their, "Turn around—don't drown" admonition.  As Romans 1:20 tells us, "Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day."

Turn around—don't drown.

But the story doesn't end there.  God, in His infinite mercy and love, gave even the souls of those disobedient in the days of Noah.  

Listen to what Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 3:18-20, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water."

What amazing love!  What inconceivable mercy!

This. Is. Our. Father.

We know, too, of the rainbow's promise to us as recorded in Genesis 9:14-15, "When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures.  Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life."

When floodwaters rise in the Texas Gulf Coast, emergency managers often wonder why people fail to heed the admonition to turn around and not drown.  It seems such a clear and easy choice for life—a no-brainer.

I often wonder the same thing about those who choose not to change the course of their life and obey Christ.

Do you?

Goodnight, Runners.