Advent is Over: Day 3, 4, 5

{This month I will be journeying through Advent in a new way. Grab a cup of coffee & 5 minutes a day so you can journey with me. Missed day 1 and 2? Check it out here.}

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” But Noah found favor with the Lord (5).

But there is hope.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us,  nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.  For his unfailing love toward those who fear him  is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west (6).

Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth. (7)”