Dear Noah,

A long time ago lived a man who wanted to obey God more than anything else. Obeying God was more important than his status in society. It was more important than his reputation. It was more important than his pride. It was more important than his friends and family. To the biblical figure of Noah (the man for whom you are named), faithfulness to God was his top priority and the most important thing in his life.

Noah lived in a time of great wickedness. The Bible says the entire earth was corrupt in God’s sight and filled with violence. People were so evil that God was sorry that he had even made them.

But there was one man who stood apart from the rest. The Bible tells us that Noah found favor in the Lord’s eyes, so God promised to save him when he destroyed the rest of the world.

Now this is where the story gets interesting. God instructed Noah to build a big boat that would keep his family and some of the animals safe. So Noah listened to God and did what the Lord had told him. You can imagine how much ridicule and scorn Noah must have received for doing so. Here he is building this gigantic boat, only because he had a word from the Lord telling him to do so. Noah’s friends probably told him he was wasting his time. And over the years as he labored away, Noah must have been tempted at times to believe them. But he kept at it. He had a word from God, and that was enough.

We live in an age now that is similar to Noah’s day. Wickedness abounds on the earth, and it’s becoming increasingly common for people to mock and ridicule those of us who are committed to the Lord’s commands. Many people don’t like the idea that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Many people don’t like the fact that God has established marriage to be between one man and one woman. And so lots of those people want to belittle Christians who think that God knows better than we do. Chances are, if you walk with God faithfully and obey his commands, people will consider you to be old fashioned, unintelligent, backwards and even hateful.

But’s that’s OK, because their opinions don’t really matter. Like Noah, we have a word from God – the Bible – and that’s enough. What matters is what God thinks of you, not what others think of you. Noah’s neighbors must have thought he was loony, but Noah was justified in the end. Those who were wicked and hated God met their fate, and Noah was saved. The same is true in any age for those who hate God’s ways. They may think they know better than God, but they don’t. And they will be judged accordingly for rejecting God as their king.

So, as you celebrate your 5th birthday, my prayer for you is that you would be a man of character like your biblical namesake. Like Noah in the Bible, I pray that you would obey God rather than men. I pray that you would find favor in God’s eyes. I pray that God would strengthen you to live the way that he has called you to live, even when it’s difficult, and even when so many people around you believe otherwise. And I pray that as God provided an ark to save Noah from his judgment, he would shelter you in Christ from his wrath on sinners.  Jesus Christ is our only hope, and I pray that you would flee to him for your salvation.

Happy birthday, buddy boy. I’m so glad God sent you to our family. I’m proud of you, and I love you very much.

Dad