Noah builds an altar — the first altar in Scripture — and offers burnt offerings from every clean animal and every clean bird. Before building a house, before planting a field, before doing anything for himself, Noah worships. The first act in the new world is not self-preservation or planning but sacrifice and praise. The altar precedes the city; worship precedes work. Romans 12:1 calls the living sacrifice of the whole self the only reasonable response to God's mercies — and Noah's offering here is the same instinct enacted on a literal altar. The clean animals and birds were preserved in extra pairs (Genesis 7:2–3) precisely for this purpose — the provision for worship was included in the provision for survival from the beginning. The application is specific and concrete: what is the first thing you do when a hard season ends and you find yourself on new ground? The instinct to plan, to assess, to get moving is natural. Noah's instinct was to build an altar. What does your first-on-new-ground worship look like?

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