1 QUOTE

“They were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

- Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 24:39)

1 NOTE

When I was a campus minister at Cal State Dominguez Hills (where are all my Toros at?), I had the joy of leading a young man to faith. My main evangelism strategy is based on a Martin Luther quote, “Faith is formed in the force-field of God’s Word.” My friend committed to learning ‘The Seven Signs of Jesus’ and made his commitment when he heard Jesus declare, “I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35).” He said that one of his first goals was to read the Bible from cover to cover. He would begin in Genesis. I warned him about Leviticus, the mountain of laws where good intentions go to die.

He came back the next week with a massive question, “Did the flood really happen?” I took the C.S. Lewis route and said, “Yes, the flood really happened. This is why every major ancient culture has a flood story.” He asked how the flood happened. I didn’t have an answer at the time, but a few years ago I learned the answer from my son Luke. 

At 10 years old he had a molar removed. The dentist put in a spacer to make sure the teeth did not move or crowd. When we did a core book study together (modified for children) he said, “Daddy, the spacer is how God separated the heavenly water (sky) from the earthly water (ocean).” When we got to the flood, Luke thought the water coming down from heaven was a reversal of the spacer (Day 2. “Daddy, I think God got really mad and removed the spacer a little bit to let water in 40 days and 40 nights.” God is patient. God is kind. But even God has a limit. The unified message of Biblical judgment is giving us over to our own desires. Eventually, God will let us ‘Do it Our Way.’ And then we experience the terrifying implications of “life without boundaries.” 

My friend was satisfied with my answer. He agreed the flood happened. He then said that it must have taken a lot of faith for ‘Nuah to build his canoe.’ It hit me like a ton of bricks. My guy never went to church. He didn’t have anyone teach him the Bible. He never heard of Noah’s Ark. He called the account ‘Nuah’s Canoe.’ I told him he was off to a great start. And that he will really trip out when he meets Abram and Sarai.

1 QUESTION

What is one boundary that God has established that you can thank Him for today?

Until Next Tuesday,

John