Genesis 7

Genesis 7:1:
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

 The Lord did not see Noah as perfect, but He did see him as "righteous." Noah pursued "righteousness."

​We love that God did not order Noah into the ark, but gave what seems to be an invitation: “Come into the ark.” Noah didn’t have to go, but he and his family did because they believed God. They walked by faith and not by sight. Because of the continual wickedness of humanity, the greatest storm this world has ever known was about to begin, as God prepared to remove the unrepentant people off the face of the earth. But before He did so, He had Noah preach for 100 years, giving humanity time to repent and return to God. But not one person, other than Noah’s family, responded. God issued a final invitation before the flood as He said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household.” This is the first invitation given by God to avoid judgment in the Bible. -Pastor Ed Rea