Inside Out Living

“All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” – Isaiah 64:6

In Ezekiel 14, the Lord patiently reveals to His people that they have no hope of avoiding His judgments. The point that He is repeatedly making is that your righteousness cannot save you from God’s judgment. He further strengthens the point by declaring that even the righteousness of Noah, Daniel and Job would not spare the people of judgment. This statement rings true for us as well because our righteousness is not sufficient to save us in the face of God’s judgment.

Praise be to God that the story does not end there, for we have a glorious hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus we can, through faith, have His righteousness credited to our account. This is the only way we can know and experience the hope of salvation. Attempting to avoid God’s wrath by our own righteousness is as futile for us today as it was in Ezekiel’s day.

This last year our family watched the animated movie Chicken Little. In that movie the lead character, Chicken Little, warns everyone in town that the sky is falling. Of course he is ridiculed for taking a stand on this issue. I think Noah may have felt somewhat like Chicken Little. 2 Peter 2:5 says that, “Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment.” Can you imagine the response Noah would have received from these wicked people?
Noah had faith in God. He was unfazed by the critics. He was undaunted by the challenge of building such a large boat (without the help of Home Depot!). Noah was the only one who heeded God’s warning. Noah acted in faith. He didn’t need God to prove anything. He believed in God’s Word and acted accordingly. Are you willing to listen to God’s Word and act accordingly? Or are you still waiting for God to prove himself? Exercising faith means to take God at His Word and act appropriately. May you be doers of the Word and not merely hearers of it.