Devotion on Genesis 6 - Contender

Scripture: Genesis 6:3

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

                         

What does the word contend mean to you?

It brings boxing to mind for me. A challenger, or a contender, goes up against the champ. The two men fight. They struggle against one another.

In Genesis 6:3, God says that He is contending against humans. He is struggling against humans because their hearts are evil.

Now, when a contender challenges the champ, they are both competing, or struggling, for the title. But what is the goal, what is the prize, when God and humans contend against one another?

Well, God, being the loving creator, always has helping us to live a peaceful and righteous life as His goal. Because He loves us, He wants our good and knows that our good is best provided to us when we live the way He created us to live and ask for and acknowledge His blessings.

What is our goal when we contend against God? We could probably say that it boils down to seeking our good but doing so through our own means.

The problem is that our means and our own ideas of what is good are never as good as God's. Our conceptions and means end up backfiring either on ourselves or by hurting someone else. God, being the wisest and goodest thing there is, always knows how to best provide our good and always wants to accomplish it.

So, why would we contend against Him?

Think about it in your own life. What makes you contend against God and His will for you?

Let us not fight against God. If God wants to do and can provide good things for us, let's not make Him struggle to do it. Let God give you good, and not just good but the best.