Daily Devotion – February 18, 2021 – Pastor Brian Hansen
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
When God makes a promise, you can trust it. These words echo in the recesses of my memory as I think back to my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Issacs. Mrs. Issacs was a teacher that was close to retirement by the time that I reached 4th grade. She was a single woman for whom teaching was her life’s passion and she was the only teacher I can recall that was bold enough to have different bible quotes up in her room. Each day she reminded us that God didn’t make junk and that each and every one of us was special to God. She reminded us that this was a promise made by God to us and that when God makes a promise you can always trust God to keep it.
Noah along with his family and the animals with him on the ark received one of these trust worthy promises from God in our Genesis reading for this week. After using water as a weapon of destruction in the flood God declares that water will no longer be used to destroy all flesh. And so, God decides to hang God’s bow in the sky. In our Genesis text God declares that when we see that bow hung in the sky, we can have assurance of this promise.
God’s promise of no longer using water to destroy comes to mind as we think of our baptismal claiming. The story of Noah is one of the stories recounted in our baptismal liturgy. In baptism we declare that in the waters of baptism we are put to death and raised to a new life in Christ. God it would seem is still at work using water. However, God no longer seeks to destroy without the gift and the promise of resurrection and a new life in Christ. What a God of promises we have.
Prayer:
God of promises, we thank you for the gift of water that sustains life. Help us to trust in your promises and your presence and bring us to new life daily in you for we ask in Jesus name. Amen
