I have been studying the life of Noah and have been challenged by his faithfulness and obedience unto the Lord. One thought the Lord gave me was in regards to the father Noah must have been.
I have the privilege of working with young people. One a recent senior trip, I asked our students what was the greatest hurdle they faced in living for God. Hands down, they told me peer pressure.
Now back to Noah—think of the peer pressure his children must have faced. For 120 years Noah preached (2 Peter 2:5) and challenged the people to repent and turn to God. In that span of ministry, the Bible does not record one convert. Imagine preaching for 120 years and no one listens. I am sure Noah was the laughing stock of his day. I am sure his children heard all kinds of things at school about their dad.
Yet, at the end of 120 years, when it was time to get on the ark Noah’s family followed him. He did not have a convert but he did have his family! When I thought about that I determined Noah must have been a good father. The Bible does not elaborate on Noah’s parenting but I would imagine he did the following:
1. Made the Christian life fun.
Building an ark for 120 years does not exactly sound like a party but whatever Noah did; he made that look better to his children than the wickedness of those who lived in his day. If we are not careful, we can lead our children to believe that if we are going to live in a way that pleases the Lord we have to be doomed to second-class living. My Bible says that God came not to just give life, but to give it more abundantly! Remember to include your children in the ministry and make it FUN (after all it counts for an eternity)!
2. Insulated his children from the world.
God chose Noah to build the ark because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man. Noah was the type of father who taught his children the Word of God and trained them to live it. I would imagine him to be the type of father that not only expected his children to live right but inspected their living and corrected it when needed.
We are living in a world that mocks God. As fathers, we should insulate our children from this behavior as much as we can. They may not like every aspect of this but someday they will thank you for it.
3. Was consistent.
This may be the most important. Not only did Noah make serving God enjoyable and insulate his children from the world, he lived for God consistently. For 120 years his children heard him preach the same message. I believe by his faithfulness, he convinced them he really believed what he was preaching. When the time came, they had no problem following dad on the ark.
We can do wonders for our children by living consistently and modeling a faithful walk before them.
This list could go on and on. I pray that God will help me to be a father like Noah. Feel free to share your thoughts.
