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Gospel: Luke 17: 26-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man,” Jesus says, “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage… then the flood came and destroyed them all.”
Noah built his ark while it was still bright and sunny outside.
Once the darkness fell and the floods came, he was already safely inside his boat. Those who were unprepared were the ones swept away.
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Jesus urges us to learn from Noah’s story.
Build the ark now.
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There will be moments in every person’s life when it feels like the flood waters are rushing in. Faith is the ark that will keep us afloat. But we must construct it now while we still have the time.
In the words of the Psalmist, “The flood waters may reach high, but you they shall not overcome.”
How sturdy is my ark? Are there any holes or weak spots in my relationship with God?
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The closer we are to Christ now, the more prepared we will be when the floods of life come rushing. Though they may reach high, we who believe shall never be overcome.
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Image credits: (1) Go Be Radiant (2) MassisPost (3) R.L. Stollar