We can walk like Noah

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually….

But Noah…

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord….Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time;

Noah walked with God.

(Genesis 6:5, 8-9)

Since I picked “walk” as my word for 2023, the word has jumped off the page in the first chapters of Genesis as I began a new bible reading plan. These verses about Noah have been hanging in my head for days.

When I consider the world today as a middle-aged women, I can feel like the wickedness of man is greater on the earth than it used to be. Perhaps that is true, but perhaps not. I know about more evil today because of media. When I was younger, lots of things happened that I never found out about. Also, the verses for today indicate things may have been worse at another time! I am not certain every intent is evil continually for every person, at least not yet.

But how did Noah live amidst the evil? Noah lived a righteous life and walked with God. Can I live the same? As difficulties swirl around me, can God say,

But Laurie?

What is your name? Imagine it there. I propose we can live the same stellar lifestyle Noah lived. After all, we have the power of God living inside of us and the power of God all around us, ready to show up strong even in response to the smallest whisper of invitation. Noah gives us no excuse, which can seem like tough news, but he also gives us incredible hope that no matter what, we can live a life that reflects the character of God.

But us.

There’s a theory in communication research called the fundamental attribution theory. It proposes that if you and I look at someone else acting wrongly, we apply an internal attribution to them. We assume they are a jerk, irresponsible, or reckless. In other words, the other person has a character problem.

But when the tables are turned on us – when we are acting wrongly – we apply an external attribution to explain our behavior. We say things like we are stressed from our job, people are treating us poorly, or we are hungry, tired or sick.

Folks, Noah proves that nothing external to us can prevent us from finding favor with God and walking closely with him.

Let’s walk!

Picture Explanation: My friend Dan Thompson is a phenomenal photographer. I have plugged him before, but he posts his five favorite photos at the start of each year. His 2022 selections are HERE. The first picture in this post is one of his five. Consider following him so some beauty lands in your inbox each week!

After looking at his favorites this year I poked around at some of his others. Today a feature some black and white I enjoyed. Hope you do too.

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If you are interested in being contacted to participate in a One Gritty Blink Bible study in 2023, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and contact me by email. Let’s focus on things that count for eternity!

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