Dec 21, 2017
By Sarina Villalpando
Maranatha Community Church in Colton, CA
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
— Genesis 8:20
When we were in school and it was around the time for Thanksgiving, we often heard about the pilgrims coming to America. But the pilgrims weren’t the first to step foot somewhere full of thankfulness in their hearts. Noah and his family stepped off the ark with thanks long before any of us.
Noah, at the time, was the most faithful man to God. He had all of God’s trust. God could’ve chosen anyone or not chosen anyone at all…but He gave this task to Noah. And Noah followed through. Noah and his family were on the ark for over a year. In that year it is imaginable that they felt doubt or scared about what was going on and about God’s plan. It is a good reminder that sometimes even when we feel like God doesn’t see us or that He doesn’t care, His love and plan are always present. We can thank Him through action and appreciation.
Noah was thankful to God for not abandoning him and his family and not forgetting them. He gave worship and sacrificed every sort of animal as a demonstration of his abundance of thanks that his heart contained.
God presents a promise of a rainbow that He will never wipe out the world through a worldwide flood again. For the first time God’s promise came with a sign. He showed through a rainbow that He will be merciful to people whose hearts have a tendency to be wicked. Through this rainbow we can remember how caring and powerful God is; how much love and strength He has; and that no matter what, He is with us; no matter how long it takes, His plan will go through. Even when life gets tough — and we deal with our own flood — there will be a beautiful rainbow at the end.
“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the
everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
— Genesis 9:16
