Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 17; James 4; Jonah1; Luke 6
Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
It is one thing to talk back to the Lord. It is another thing altogether to outright disobey the Lord! God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach and Jonah hopped on a ship headed in the opposite direction! He was running from God and ignoring the word of the Lord. Have you ever done that? Have you ever not done what you know God had told you to do?
Have you ever refused to forgive someone even though Jesus clearly says, “Forgive”? Have you ever indulged your sinful lust even though the Bible says not to? Have you ever taken something that did not belong to you even though the Bible says, “Thou shalt not steal”?
These and many other sins are direct violations of the Word of God. His Word is very clear on these things and God made his Word very clear to Jonah. It was not a case of misunderstanding; it was a case of disobedience. Jonah got a chance to repent of his disobedience and preach to Nineveh. It came about with some coercion from God has he used the natural world to get Jonah’s attention. The Bible says that when Jonah left on that ship headed for Tarshish:
Jonah 1:4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Anything and everything in this creation is available for the Father’s use. He sent out a great wind to get Jonah off that ship and back onto course. Not only that but when those sailors cast Jonah into the sea, the wind stopped and the fish swallowed Jonah up! This fish was “prepared” by God for this purpose. Isn’t it amazing that God can command a fish and the fish obeys? And yet God commanded a man and he did not obey! Is a fish more obedient than a man? It would seem so.
It was in the belly of the fish that Jonah repented and decided he would obey God. God used a fish to get Jonah back on course. Of all the areas in which we might disobey God, have you ever refused the Great Commission?
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Do you need a few days in the belly of a fish to decide to obey Jesus and share the gospel? Are you running from God instead of being a witness for Jesus? Let’s get back on course before we have to be the main course – for a fish!
In Christ,
Rody
