6月14日

標　　題：挪亞與神同行

經　　節：惟有挪亞在耶和華眼前蒙恩。挪亞的後代記在下面。挪亞是個義人，在當時的世代是個完全人。挪亞與神同行。（創世記六章8∼9節）

無論你所處的環境是多麼不聖潔，神總會查找你，與你同行。挪亞也許是在歷史上最邪惡的世代，沒有人敬拜神，所有的人都拜偶像，貪享宴樂。挪亞所有的街坊鄰居都是邪惡的。他在市場、街上、公眾聚集處所遇見的每個人都嘲笑他。所有你能想像到的試探，挪亞都碰見了。對一個公義的人來說，這是多麼大的壓制啊！

在挪亞時代的人十分邪惡，因此神計畫完全徹底地毀滅他們，這是聖經記載中，神最嚴厲的作為。然而，在一群罪人之中，神並沒有忽略了挪亞。神注意挪亞每個正直的行為。挪亞不管周遭人的行為如何，仍然選擇要在神面前過正直誠實的生活，這一切都看在神的眼裡。也許挪亞有時會質疑自己過正直誠實的生活，是否有其必要，因為其他人並不是這樣作，但他堅持下去。他對公義的持守，救了自己與全家人的性命。

你是否常被邪惡的事物所環繞？當周遭所有的人都對神漠不關心時，你是否為了持守正直公義的生活，有時也會掙扎不已？由挪亞的例子中，我們可以擁有十足的把握。神在看你，就像從前祂觀察挪亞一樣。每一回祂都會在眾人中查找你，祂要祝福你與你的家人，就像祂曾經祝福挪亞一樣。

Noah Walked with God

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. . . Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8-9)

No matter how ungodly the environment you may be in, God will always find you and walk with you. Noah lived in perhaps the most wicked age in history. No one worshiped God. All the people worshiped idols and pursued their own sinful pleasures. Noah's neighbors were evil; every person he associated with in the marketplace, or along the street, or in public gatherings, ridiculed the very thought of being faithful to God. Every temptation imaginable was abundantly available to Noah. How oppressive such an environment would have been to a righteous person!

The people of Noah's day were so wicked that God planned the most complete and drastic act of judgment recorded in Scripture. Nevertheless, Noah was not lost to God in the crowd of sinners. God noticed every act of Noah's righteousness. Noah had chosen to live uprightly before God despite what everyone around him was doing, and God had observed him. There may have been times when Noah wondered if it mattered if he lived a righteous life, since no one else was. Yet he continued, and his persistence in righteousness saved his life and the lives of his family members.

Are you constantly surrounded by evil? Do you struggle at times to live a righteous life when those you associate with each day have no concern for God? Find assurance in the life of Noah. God watches you, even as He observed Noah. God will seek you out of the crowd every time, and He wants to bless you and your family just as He blessed Noah.