A Thought For The Week Of January 5, 2015

"This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood." (Genesis 10:1) I've often said that you can find something meaningful out of pretty much any verse of Scripture if you think about it. But I was put to the test a few days ago as I was doing some reading out of the Book of Genesis. This one verse leads into a genealogy - one of those lists of who was the father of who, etc., etc., that most of us probably tend to just skip over as if they're not especially significant. And, on the surface, this one doesn't seem of much relevance either, does it. It's part of the "Noah" story. It takes place after the great flood (or whatever great catastrophe was being remembered in the story of the flood.) It lists Noah's descendants. So what? Why does it matter - especially if you take the story of the flood to be mythology rather than history (although while recognizing its mythic nature, I believe there is some history to the flood; something was being remembered - some cultural memory from the distant past.) In any event, this verse (and the genealogy that follows) does actually make an important point: life goes on! Humanity continued on, as a part of God's plan. There's a purpose to our existence; a reason that we're here.  No matter the great flood (or whatever great catastrophe it was) - life went on! That seems to me to be an important message. Life goes on! We get struck by catastrophes all the times. Sometimes they're mega-catastrophes like natural disasters or terrorist attacks, and they can cause us to fall into despair over the state of the world. More often, they're what most others would consider small things - but to us, as they affect us personally, they're catastrophes, and they can cause us to fall into despair, convinced that nothing can get better. But it can. Life goes on! No matter what - life goes on! Whatever "floods" come into your life - God still has a purpose for you, even if that purpose is no more than to love God and to love one another, which is actually a pretty important purpose.The year ahead is going to bring its share of "floods" into our lives. But life will go on. It really will. God has a purpose for you.