Running Away?

O. T. #2159  " Running Away?"

March 29, 2022

Jonah 1-Part 5

LET IT GLOW

Are you looking for love? Where do we run to when we need to feel loved? Things, people, and drugs won't fill that void, friend. Love is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is like a fountain that overflows to us, His child.

John is telling us in his letter, 1 John:4:7-8, Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Love is a gift from God to us. He loves us so much that God gave His only begotten Son so we could be with Him in eternity.

All true love originates from God. Real love shows that we belong to our God. When we have God's love in our heart, it makes us more like Him. (Barnes)

God's love will point us to those who need love, His love. When we love God, then we will loving others will come naturally.

Are we looking for those who are in need of love?

 

LET IT GROW

Jonah was a prophet who rebelled against God's will for his life-go to Nineveh and preach repentance to the pagan idol worshipers. Instead of going to the evil people who needed forgiveness of sin, he went his own way in the opposite direction. Jonah to a cargo ship toward Tarshish and fell asleep down in the bottom. He hit bottom all right.

In Jonah 1:4, 23 read where a violent storm came up and threatened to break the ship apart. Then sailors were desperate for their lives, so they called upon their gods for help, and then threw overboard the cargo in order to lighten the ship. That did not help the situation. so the captain went down to Jonah.

New Living Translation of the Bible gives us the questions the captain asked Jonah:

• How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your god! A pagan sailor was telling a preacher to pray. something wrong with this picture, right? Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives. When the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm, it identified Jonah. Maybe Jonah's God could do something their gods could not do. (Jonah was the culprit.)
• Why is this awful storm come down on us?
• Who are you?
• What is your line of work?
• What country are you from?
• What is your nationality?

Jonah answered, "I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." Jonah had to admit it all.

Verse 10 tells us, The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD.

It was obvious that this man was the one who made his God unhappy by fleeing.

Questions continued:

• Oh, why did you do it?
• What should we do to you to stop this storm?

Jonah told the sailors to throw him into the sea and it would be calm again. He knew that terrible storm was his fault. (verse 12)

They would not dare do that to their gods. Jonah should have been witnessing to the sailors, but didn't. Jonah would rather die than go to Nineveh.

Sweet friend, are you running away from doing God's will? Are you doing things your way instead of God's way? Does God have to send a storm of some sorts into your life to get your attention and to surrender to Him?

Or is your will and way of life surrendered to His?

Lest we are too quick to condemn Jonah, haven't we all done similar things? I have. I was supposed to teach at a Christian school, but did not. Instead, I went to a public school because it offered a higher pay. It did not turn out to be a good situation. Eventually, after 4 years, I repented and went to that school where God's will was for me. I paid for my rebellion, for those in charge did not treat me nice and I struggled the whole year. (Although, several children were saved when I finally did God's will His way.) If only I had not rebelled!

 

LET IT GO