July 28th, 2023
Friday, July 28
Stop Keeping Up With The Jonahs
By: Anna Williams
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” -Jonah 1:1-3 NIV
Jonah spends a lot of time running from, resisting against, and whining to God. If you get a few minutes this week, I challenge you to read the entire book of Jonah. It’s only four chapters but I think it has a lot to say to believers.
This man clearly understands who God is and why he deserves glory and praise, but he keeps getting overwhelmed by his own emotions. He cannot seem to fully surrender his heart and follow in complete obedience and trust. He hears God’s clear call to preach to the inhabitants of Nineveh, but he runs the opposite direction because he doesn’t think they deserve to be forgiven. (Jonah 4:2)
After his encounter with the fish, he reluctantly preaches through the city a call to repentance through the city, then sits and sulks under a hastily made sun shelter on the city outskirts. There he hopes to see at least a few of the people get zapped for their disobedience but it never happens.
One moment he is praising God for providing a plant to shade him and then he despairs and begs to die when it withers in the sun. Throughout the book, he seems to waver between technical obedience and resistance. He never really gets it.
Oh, that we would be a people of God that “Get it”!! The American Church has many members that have heard the call from the Lord to share the Good News to their OIKOS and yet they have escaped, resisted, or complained instead of obeying. They have avoided sharing the love of Christ with certain groups because they have judged them as “too far gone”.
Father God, we thank you for who you are and the amazing love that you have for each and every human you have created. Jesus, we thank you for giving your life for all of us and we ask you to be Lord of our lives. Holy Spirit, help us to recognize if any attitudes inside us make us resistant to your leading so we may repent and change. In Jesus’s name we pray, AMEN.
Stop Keeping Up With The Jonahs
By: Anna Williams
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” -Jonah 1:1-3 NIV
Jonah spends a lot of time running from, resisting against, and whining to God. If you get a few minutes this week, I challenge you to read the entire book of Jonah. It’s only four chapters but I think it has a lot to say to believers.
This man clearly understands who God is and why he deserves glory and praise, but he keeps getting overwhelmed by his own emotions. He cannot seem to fully surrender his heart and follow in complete obedience and trust. He hears God’s clear call to preach to the inhabitants of Nineveh, but he runs the opposite direction because he doesn’t think they deserve to be forgiven. (Jonah 4:2)
After his encounter with the fish, he reluctantly preaches through the city a call to repentance through the city, then sits and sulks under a hastily made sun shelter on the city outskirts. There he hopes to see at least a few of the people get zapped for their disobedience but it never happens.
One moment he is praising God for providing a plant to shade him and then he despairs and begs to die when it withers in the sun. Throughout the book, he seems to waver between technical obedience and resistance. He never really gets it.
Oh, that we would be a people of God that “Get it”!! The American Church has many members that have heard the call from the Lord to share the Good News to their OIKOS and yet they have escaped, resisted, or complained instead of obeying. They have avoided sharing the love of Christ with certain groups because they have judged them as “too far gone”.
Father God, we thank you for who you are and the amazing love that you have for each and every human you have created. Jesus, we thank you for giving your life for all of us and we ask you to be Lord of our lives. Holy Spirit, help us to recognize if any attitudes inside us make us resistant to your leading so we may repent and change. In Jesus’s name we pray, AMEN.
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