The trouble with Jonah, and me too...

The words in the photo are the words of Jonah recorded in verse 9 of the first chapter of Jonah.

He spoke these words after God told him to go to Ninevah and warn the city of coming judgment.

He spoke these words after he got on a ship and headed in the exact opposite direction of God's instructions.

He spoke these words to the "false god worshipping sailors" on the ship who woke the slumbering Jonah up because the ship was being tossed about in a terrible storm sent by the One True God due to Jonah's disobedience.

The captain of the ship asked Jonah to pray to his God to spare their lives.

The crew cast lots to see who was the cause of the horrible storm.

Jonah was revealed as the culprit.

He readily confessed that he was running away from the very God who he claimed to worship,

the very God that he declared was the Maker of heaven, earth and sea.

It seems to me there was a mighty big chasm between Jonah's "say-er" and Jonah's "do-er".

Surely, if you really, really believe that God is Who He says He is,

then wouldn't you have a bit of the fear of the Lord when it comes to doing what He says?

Wouldn't you revere Him enough to obey Him?

Joy Dawson, in her book, Intimate Friendship with God, says that the fear of the Lord is evident in the life of a person by the fact that they do what God says wholeheartedly and quickly.

When I am teaching children about salvation and asking Jesus to be their Savior and Lord,

I explain that the word Lord means letting God be the Boss of your life.

My life verse goes along with that thought.

It's 1 Corinthians 6:20, "For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

I am twice God's.

I am His creation.

 I'm His because He made me.

I am also His because He redeemed me. 

He bought me back from sin and satan though the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

Hasn't He earned the right to rule my life?

Hasn't He proved His love and trustworthiness over and over and over?

Yes, yes He has.

And yet, I've pulled a Jonah a time or two or a hundred.

Maybe it's not been as dramatic as Him telling me to go east and I've headed west instead,

but there's been many a time He's told me to keep silent and I've insisted on having my say.

He's told me to reach out to someone and I've let fear win over obedience.

He's told me to forgive and let it go and I've kept a record of wrongs instead.

It's all disobedience.

It's me wanting to be the boss of my own life.

It's me not revering God enough to obey wholeheartedly and quickly the minute He speaks.

I thank God that the story of Jonah is one of repentance and of God's mercy and forgiveness

for Ninevah and for Jonah.

My story is one of repentance and of God's mercy and forgiveness, too.

Thank God.

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