The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention 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 land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
--Genesis 6:5-8
God has such a gracious memory when it comes to His people. God determined to destroy the earth because of its evil, but He remembered His servant named Noah. And God’s gracious memory led Noah into the ark of safety!
God even remembers His people when they are unfaithful. I think of Samson in Judges 13–16. In this passage we are told how Samson had disobeyed God and been led astray by evil, but he called out to God in a last gasp. God heard him, and gave him one last great feat of strength to win a victory for the Lord.
There are countless other stories in the Bible of God sparing people because He remembers that there are those who still serve Him. Even as He destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God remembered to spare Lot.
And who can forget the thief on the cross next to Jesus? This was a lawless and convicted sinner, but he repented and the Lord remembered him…and he was brought into the kingdom of heaven that very day. I know that man would join others, including me, in saying, “Praise be to God for His faithful and forgiving memory.”
My friend, God remembers His own! He has promised to never leave you or forsake you. He will be faithful to lead you throughout your life and someday bring you home to be with Him.
Thank God today for his gracious and faithful memory!
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.”
Luke 16:5–7
The central character in the parable of the unjust steward that Jesus told seems like an unlikely candidate to receive praise and approval from the Lord. He was not careful in his business dealings, and as a result he was on the brink of losing his job because he was costing his employer money. It was not for his carelessness, but for his response that this steward is praised. Looking ahead at what was coming, he used the authority given to him to arrange discounts for those who owed money to his boss so that they would be favorably inclined toward him in the future.
Many people fail to adequately prepare for the future. Instead of planning ahead, they just go from one day to the next with little thought of tomorrow. Sometimes people even dress up this approach and call it living by faith. But faith is not blindly assuming that everything is going to work out somehow without us being involved. Faith is obeying what God has told us to do, and His Word instructs us to look ahead—or suffer the consequences. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3).
There are times when we complain about what happens to us when we could have avoided the unpleasantness if we had simply been diligent in our planning and preparation. As the old saying goes, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Wise planning for the future is an important part of our obedience to God’s commands.
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