Monday

Genesis 8: 20 – 9:7

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

"As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

"But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

"Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.

"As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

Noah hadn’t just brought two of each animal onto the ark. He’d also brought seven – or maybe seven pairs – of every kind of animal suitable for sacrifice. All Noah’s doing in the beginning of this passage is offering God some of the animals he’d brought on the ark for that purpose. The sacrifice was little more than an RSVP.

For that, God promises that He’ll never flood the earth again. Then He goes further: He gives Noah and his family everything that lives for their use. All God requires is that they remember that He holds all life: the blood is His.

How does this relate to me? I am – whether figuratively or literally descended from Noah -- to be a good manager of all life under my care. But more importantly, I must remember that all life belongs to God, including mine.

When Noah sacrificed a few animals that God had told him to bring for that very purpose, God blessed him and his family. Lent reminds us that God Himself has always provided the sacrifice – from grain or an animal on the altar to His Son – that brings us life and abundance.