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Building a Boat on Dry Land - Part 1
by Jerry Ousley Some time ago we went to a family reunion in Kentucky; specifically in a town of Eastern Kentucky. I don't want to stereo-type our friends in this wonderful Bluegrass State. To be frank both of my parents were born and raised in Eastern Kentucky so even though I was born in Indiana, I have deep roots in that region of our great country. You see what has been popularly termed "red-necked" isn't limited to a certain area but is widespread all over the United States. But this one just struck me funny. In order to get to where we were going we had to drive down a very curvy and winding road that took us deep into the hills and hollows of the area. It was beautiful country and as we drove down the road I was admiring the beautiful homes and old rock walls that had been built before the Civil War, thinking, "Man this sure would be a nice place to live." Of course everyplace has its appeal as well as its drawbacks. Suddenly we came upon a house that just didn't fit in with most of them in the area. If it was an old plantation house it had not been kept in good shape. It really looked more like a thrown-up shack of sorts. On the hill behind it was an old yacht yes I said yacht - sitting on concrete blocks. The Kentucky River did run through the area but judging from the size of that boat and the narrow road we were driving on I immediately asked the question, "How did they get that thing up there!" It was most definitely out of character. A closer examination of the boat looked like that perhaps someone was actually living in it. I suppose we could look at that in two different ways; It might have looked out of place and definitely a red-necked thing, but it was also a good use of a big boat! I suppose they could have been preparing just in case God decided to destroy the earth again with a world-wide flood. But according to the Bible, if that was their goal, they had a long, long wait, because God plainly said in Genesis that He would never do that again. It was a big boat on dry land. The story of Noah, in some ways, may have seemed just as silly to the folks of his day. It was a terribly evil time. People of the earth had become so wicked that God was sorry He had created mankind. His decision was to destroy the entire earth with a flood. There was only one righteous man to be found and that was Noah. Because God didn't want to be unfair to Noah He told him what He was about to do. He also gave Noah a plan to preserve the lives of mankind and all the animals by building a big boat. This had never been done. In fact, according to the Bible in Genesis it had never, ever rained. It is entirely possible that all the land at that time was one big land-mass. The very idea of a flood anywhere, let alone a world-wide flood was preposterous. Noah began his work constructing this huge boat out in the middle of the land with no water anywhere around it (at least that's the way I picture it). They all thought he was out of his mind and the Bible indicates that he was mocked and ridiculed for his decision to obey what God had told him. Have you ever found yourself in the same type of situation? You have felt the words of God strongly in your heart. He has given you a clear plan, at least as to how to begin. You want to be obedient to Him but other people around you tell you that it can't be done, or that you are foolish because that's not the way it's been done in the past. Many have turned back on what God has spoken to them in their hearts because of ridicule or the shame others put on them because they chose to be different and obedient to God. I want to tell you today to have the faith of Noah. This man spent one hundred years building this big boat. He probably became the joke of the town because of his faithfulness to what God had told him to do. But in the end his faithfulness was rewarded. What God has told us to do may not affect the entire world as it did for Noah, but it does affect other people. Your obedience to God could be the key that opens the door to multitudes facing great decisions in their lives. It could be the levy that holds back a flood of bad things. No one knows for sure except God. Following His plan and what He tells us to do has meaning and we may never fully realize the entire impact of it here on this earth. So go ahead; if God is telling you to build a big boat, or set up an old yacht in your backyard, if it is really the voice of God in your heart, do it. Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |