It is noteworthy to consider that those who are seeking heavenly treasure are frequently called by God to make major life alterations here on earth. Be prepared to face the same thing, if need be.

 Read Genesis 6:5-14. What radical changes came to Noah as a result of obeying God? What principles can we find here for ourselves in a world that needs to be warned about impending doom?

 Noah could have spent his time and resources building a home for himself, but he chose to make a drastic change in his life and to spend 120 years of that life in following the call of God to build the ark.

 Many skeptics today dismiss the story of the Flood as a myth, often based on scientific speculations about the known laws of nature. This is nothing new. “The world before the Flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order. Heretofore rain had never fallen; the earth had been watered by a mist or dew. The rivers had never yet passed their boundaries, but had borne their waters safely to the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their banks.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 96. Before the Flood, people argued that a flood could never come based on a faulty understanding of reality; after the Flood, based on a faulty understanding of reality, they argue that it never came to begin with.

 Meanwhile, the Bible also says that people will be skeptical of end-time events, as they were of the Flood (see 2 Pet. 3:3-7). How can we, then, prepare for the coming destruction? There is a conscious decision called “delayed gratification.” This basically means that we should patiently do the work God has called us to do in the hope of a more glorious future reward. We don’t know when Christ will return. In one sense, it doesn’t matter. What matters instead is that, like Noah, we do what God asks of us in the meantime, even if, as with Noah, it means some radical life changes.