The account of Noah and the Great Flood is found in Genesis chapters 5-8. In the oft-told story the Lord warns Noah that He is sending a flood to destroy the earth and commands him to build an ark to save his family from the disaster.
In Genesis 6:18 the Lord states:
“But with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.”
He also commands him to bring into the ark:
“every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort…to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female (Genesis 6:19).”
Noah obeys the Lord, constructs the ark, and saves his family and the animals from the Great Flood.
Noah was saved from the flood not because the Lord told him it was going to rain. He was saved from the flood because he took action and built an ark. His knowledge of the impending flood would have been useless had he not took action.
Famous investor Warren Buffett calls this idea The Noah Principle. In one of his highly-anticipated annual shareholder letters, while explaining why returns weren’t up to his usual high standards, Buffett admitted:
“Our preaching was better than our performance: (We neglected the Noah Principle: Predicting rain doesn’t count, building arks does.)”
The temporal gospel is a gospel of action. Knowledge is a small part of the temporal gospel and the knowledge you do need is amazingly simple: spend less than you make, avoid debt, save for the future, and help others. The temporal gospel is all about behavior. To paraphrase Buffett:
“Predicting financial storms doesn’t count, building financial arks does.”
The Noah Principle will be a recurring theme in this blog and some posts will contain Ark-Building Actions, or practical steps you can take to start constructing a financial ark that will withstand future floods.
Whether you are trying to live the temporal gospel or facing other problems in your life The Noah Principle is a powerful reminder that behavior is more important than knowledge and that protecting yourself and your family from the storms of life requires action.