Promise

Nike2x: I'm sure that everyone has seen a ring like this one. It is a very special kind of ring. Do you know what kind of ring it is? It is a wedding ring. It is a very simple ring. It has no diamonds or any other precious stones. It is just a plain, simple band of gold, but it is very special because it is a reminder of a promise that is made when a couple gets married. On the day that they are married, a husband and wife make a promise that they will love and stand faithfully beside one another "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as they live." Each of them wears a wedding band as a reminder of that promise that they made. The ring also tells everyone who sees it about the promise that the couple made.

We all make promises, don't we? You might promise your mother that you will clean your room and do your chores before you go out to play. Or you may promise to keep a secret told to you by your best friend. You may promise to return something that you borrowed from a neighbor.

Has anyone ever broken a promise they made to you? How did that make you feel? What did you say? You were probably very disappointed and said something like, "But you promised!" Sometimes we aren't very good at keeping our promises.

God makes promises. Our Bible lesson today is about a promise that God made to a man named Noah. I'm sure that you know the story of how God sent a great flood to destroy the earth because the people had become so wicked and evil. He destroyed everything he had created except for two of every kind of bird and animal and Noah and his family. He spared them because Noah was a good and righteous man who walked with God.

After the flood waters went down and Noah's family and all the animals could leave the ark, God made a promise to Noah. He promised Noah that he would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. Then he did something to remind Noah of that promise. He placed a rainbow in the sky and he said to Noah, "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the promise between me and all life on the earth." God said that every time he saw the rainbow, he would remember the promise that he made.

God has kept that promise, hasn't he? God keeps all of his promises. In fact, the Bible says that, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ." (2 Corinthians 1:20) The next time you see a rainbow, remember the promise God made to Noah, and remember that just as he has kept that promise, he keeps all of his promises.