Reading Plan:
Genesis 6:9-22
Faithfulness and The Image of God
Author: Holden Hunt
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked faithfully with God. Genesis 6:9
Hi. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably never met me. My name’s Holden. I’m 24 years old, and I work at Venture Church. I am the music director at our Jones County campus, and I also work with all of our students from KXP to College. I know, that’s a wide range of people and tasks, but it’s what I do! This is my first time writing a devotion for you all, and even though this is something that I really want to do, and have wanted to do for a while, I’m going to be vulnerable and say that writing this has been one of the hardest things I have had to do this week. And this week has also included taking my car to the shop TWICE and finding out that I may or may not have sleep apnea. Yay, me!
So, now that you know a little bit more about me, let’s take a look at what today’s passage of scripture says and what stood out to me while reading it. In Genesis chapter 6:9-22, the main theme that I see is faithfulness. Noah, through the way that he lived, was deemed by God as a man who “walked faithfully with God.” I love that phrase for so many reasons and wish we could dive deeper into it, but for today let’s focus on just this: practically, what does it look like to be someone who walks faithfully with God?
In order to really go through this, I think we need to start with this idea of salvation and the Gospel or “Good News” of Jesus. I think it would be really hard to walk faithfully with God before you have a relationship with Him so let’s start there. If you’re reading this and you haven’t begun a relationship with God through Jesus, or if you have any questions about anything related to that, reach out to your House Church pastor or email us at hello@venturechurch.org so that we can have that conversation with you. It’s the most important conversation you’ll ever have, I promise. If you don’t want to wait, do it today. You won’t regret it.
Back to walking faithfully with God. - I don’t think Noah could have been someone who walked faithfully with God if he didn’t have a desire and habit of consistently walking with God. Think about it - is it possible to walk with someone if you don’t walk with them? I know that probably sounds crazy to read, especially if you read that out loud, but it’s true! Faithfulness to someone requires that you consistently spend quality time with that person. Ask any person who has maintained a healthy marriage or a healthy friendship long-term, and they’ll agree. Faithfulness requires intimacy, and intimacy is created over a lifetime of walking faithfully with someone. This intimacy looks like having conversations, asking questions, listening when they speak, and constantly learning and loving more about who they are.
The same is true of our relationship with God. We become followers of Jesus who walk faithfully with God by consistently creating time in our daily schedules to be with God.
To be vulnerable again, I was a Christian for years before I decided to follow Noah and Jesus’s example of consistently spending time alone with God. However, once I did, it quite literally changed everything about my life. Other than deciding to follow Jesus, it has been one of the best decisions that I have ever made. My prayer for you reading this is that the Holy Spirit would reveal a simple, practical way to create space in your daily routine to walk faithfully with God.
Reflection & Response:
- How would you rate your current desire to spend time in prayer and reading the Word of God? I encourage you to write this evaluation down. No shame or condemnation here. Be honest with God about where you are. If it’s not high, begin to ask God to reveal to you why that is.
- What is one thing that is taking up time in your life that you could get rid of or reduce to create more time to “walk faithfully with God”? For example, I recently created a rule in my life that I do not use my phone until after I spend time praying and reading God’s word. What could that be for you?
- Need help discovering or taking your next step? Contact your House Church Pastor or email us at hello@venturechurch.org if you would like to talk with someone at Venture Church about your next steps in your faith journey.
God, thank you for walking faithfully with me, for never leaving or forsaking me. Thank you for being a God who wants to be with me and that wants me to be with you so much that you sent your Son to die for me so that I could live with you now and forever. I pray that you reveal to me things in my life that get in the way of me spending time with you. I pray that you rewire my desires so that I desire to be with you, to spend time with you, and to walk faithfully with you. Amen.
Have Kids?
Use the content below to dive deeper into the Bible Reading Plan with your family.
Family Application: Faithful
- Noah was someone who everyone respected because of how much he loved God. Noah loved God but most of the people around Noah did not love God. The people were always choosing their own way instead of God’s way. The people were choosing sin over God. God had a plan to rescue mankind that would involve Noah.
- God chose to use Noah because Noah was faithful to God. Noah loved God and did what God called him to do. When God calls you to do something, how do you usually react? You might feel inspired? You might feel confused? You might feel overwhelmed? You might feel weak?
- How can you be faithful this week? Remember being faithful means doing what God has called you to do.