Still His Story

Posted by Karah

Pause

Take a few minutes to write down everything that is pulling your attention away from God. Pray over the list, then focus your mind on Christ.

Read over Genesis 11:1-9 in your Bible. Take a moment to set the scene for these verses. What words would you use to describe the culture? The peoples’ attitude toward God?

“And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’” —Genesis 11:4

Dig a little deeper with these questions.

The flood had been a new beginning for the world, but humanity’s sin nature didn’t go away when the flood waters receded. How are today’s verses an example of that? Explain.

Think back to Adam and Eve’s sin in Genesis 3, then reread Genesis 11:4. Adam and Eve sinned against God by trying to achieve power and knowledge independent of Him and the ways He had provided. How does the story in Genesis 11 echo that idea?

Reread verses 5-9 and consider God’s response to the peoples’ plan to make their own names famous. How does that help you to see that God is still the main Character of Scripture and it is His story? Explain.

The Point

We should live to make His name famous, not our own.

Respond

The people in Genesis 11 focused all their energy and effort on something they thought would bring them fame and power, which they equated with security.

When do you find yourself trying to find security, safety, or hope in something other than God? Be honest before God, confessing anything that is keeping Him from His rightful place as the Author and Main Character of your story.

What are you putting all of your energy into right now? Is the focus of all that energy about making God famous or making a name for yourself?

For further study, read “A Giant Staircase to Heaven” in The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones.

Behind the Story

Building the tower was sinful because of the pride and arrogance involved, but also because it was an act of disobedience. In Genesis 9:1, God had commanded Noah and his family to spread out over the earth and continue multiplying in order to “fill the earth.” Ultimately, instead of obeying God, the people decided they didn’t want to be scattered across the earth and attempted to build their own fame rather than obeying and glorifying God.

Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge for Girls, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission., Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Weekly Devotions