Where were the Children?

Gen. 7: 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground...Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

The Bible has a lot of stories. True stories. And that is the problem. It doesn’t always tell the story the way we would like it to go, because it’s not made up. It is reality and you can’t always get reality to turn out your way. For example, I have a problem with the story of the flood. God destroyed the earth because of the wickedness. Tough, but – ok. He knows best. In the ark, eight people were saved; equal numbers of male and female. Mr. and Mrs. Noah, Mr. and Mrs. Shem, Mr. and Mrs. Ham and Mr. and Mrs Japhet. But here is my problem: Where are the children?

There were millions of people living on the earth at that time and a lot of them must have been children, but none were in the ark. God said that the people were so evil they had to be destroyed, but what about those innocent children? Surely, the children weren’t wicked too! The sad truth is that not even the children and youth were living as they should. God held them also responsible for their sins.

Today, many youth are led to believe that giving their lives to Jesus is something to put off until they are older. They think they have to “live some life first”. They sometimes do things that they know are wrong, but excuse themselves that they are young; and even older people smile and call it “youthful exuberance”. Children are sometimes disobedient, disrespectful and stubborn, not realizing that God expects them to do the right things that they know and understand, because He does not tolerate sin, whether it’s big or small.

Here is the good news. God has made it possible for anyone to be saved, old or young; adult or child. He says if we confess our sins, if we repent, if we try to avoid the wrong and to do the right we will be saved. Youth and children, let us take God’s principles seriously. Let us walk away from sin, because it brings death to everyone; adult and children alike.

Lord, help me to remember always that I too will have to answer to God for everything I do. I promise to obey your will today and always, in Jesus’ name, amen.