This morning I have been reminded of the fact that there are indeed not many in this world who are righteous. I am reading in Genesis of Noah and God’s destruction on the earth to rid it of the evil that had taken hold. Of all those on the earth, He identified only Noah as being righteous.
“5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” and “8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” – Genesis 6:5 & 8 (ESV)
The LORD found that Noah was a man following Him. Only one man and his immediate family were to be saved.
“9These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” – Genesis 6:9-10 (ESV)
I do not know how many were in the world at the time, but for the LORD to only identify one to be righteous, that is quite the small percentage. I am sure that there were thousands if not hundreds of thousands and only one was determined to be righteous.
Now, let’s take a look at the percentages and translate that to this world today. If there were 100,000 people, then Noah would have been .001% of them. Think about it, with a million then there would only be 10 righteous. And a society of a billion people would only have 10,000 righteous. And with the current population of the earth being around 8 billion, that would be only about 80,000 as righteous. Now, that looks and seems like a good number of people, but consider that even if rounded to 100,00 people there would be only the city of Davenport, IA (according to the estimate of 2023 found in Wikipedia) that would considered righteous, and that is only one town among the world. And think, that is presuming a population of 100,000 along with Noah. There are not many righteous in the world. And, as much as I would like to believe I am righteous, would I make the cut with the LORD.
I have to look at my role here in this world. My role is to spread the gospel to all I come in contact with. I do not, as Noah did not, have to concern myself with all else that is going on in the world. I know that there is evil out there as did Noah. And just as he did, I am to put my head down and do the work that the LORD has for me. Noah built the ark and I am to spread the gospel. Whether or not I am righteous is not for me to decide, that is left up to and judged by the LORD. My role is simply to do the work and allow the LORD to see the work.
There are not many righteous in this world, and that is known. I do not know if I am one of them, and that is okay. I am to do the work that the LORD has for me and know that when my time is up, I will find myself in glory.
What is your understanding of your righteousness? Do you look out for yourself as if you are righteous and all others are not? What if you look at the numbers and realize that there are not many who are righteous and that only God knows their names, so you put your head down and do the work He has for you until your time is done?
Trevor's Thoughts 