Genesis 9:20-21
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
We are quick to mention Ham and the sin of looking upon his father’s nakedness. The consequence to Ham’s action results in his son Canaan and his descendants being cursed, “and a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
Lost in the account of Noah are these two small verses of scripture. Noah, on the heels of finding favor with God, prepared an ark to survive the only global flood known to man. He gets off the ark, builds an altar, and embarks on a journey to once again propagate the Earth.
He plants a vineyard, and like many of us, becomes inebriated on the fruits of his labor. Then while he is drunk, Ham looks on his father’s nakedness, bringing a curse upon his son and future generations.
In reality, this is what can happen to any of us when we lose sight of the objective, which is to allow our lives to be a testimony to the goodness of God, what He has, is, and will bring us through. It’s interesting how after surviving the hardest part of our journeys, as it would be the floods of life, how quickly we become inebriated on our own success. We get caught up in the things we feel we have worked for, losing sight, direction, and the big picture of what is going on and where we are headed.
Yes, Ham was wrong in what he done, but would it have happened if Noah had not become drunken upon his own labors? The truth is: We bring a lot of things on ourselves because we forget God is the one who brought us through to this place of success.
Our prayer for you this week: May you never become drunken with the fruits of your labor, but stay focused on where God is leading you and your family.
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