MARCH 8, Galatians 3:16

“Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day!” Little children want to play. Is this nursery rhyme familiar to you? How you wished the rain would go away because you wanted to play in the park. The rain spoilt your day and you had to go home. How sad that’d be. However, not all rains are sad! After a rain or when the rain has almost come to a stop, something wonderful appears. After that dark storm cloud came a beautiful half circle with gorgeous colors. What is it called? A __________ (unscramble IAOWRBN). Who but God could have thought of such a lovely thing to remind us of His promise? The promise was never again would it rain until the whole earth was covered with water.

The story in the Bible began like this.... At first just a few drops, rain came thicker and faster. Still it rained and rained! Inch by inch the water was rising. All except those in the ark died.The beautiful world was destroyed. God could not let the wicked people go on living in their wicked ways. Where did all the sin and evil come from? Yes, from the hearts of the people, as given by Genesis 6:5 – ‘And God saw that the __________ of man was __________ in the earth, and that every imagination of the __________ of the heart was only __________ continually’.

The world did not worship God. God was angry with the world and sent the flood and Noah and his family in the ark were the only human beings saved. After this global catastrophe, God made a promise that the world will be spared from such a great flood, and the rainbow is the sign of this promise. Think of God’s promise every time you see a rainbow!

God also gave us a promise through Christ - it was in God’s heart to give His beloved Son, a descendent or seed of Abraham to born a human, to die for the sins of the world. He made this promise not because people are good but because He loves us so much. God does not want to destroy men. He desires to save them. Do you believe in Jesus who died for your sins to save you from destruction in hell’s fire? Don’t be like those God-rejecting people living during Noah’s time who perished in the flood.

Thought: Thank God for rainbows as reminders of His promises!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are the God of promises and You freely give them to Your children. I thank You for Your promises. In turn, I promise to walk and follow with Christ all my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.