Jonah 1:1-4-Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
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.
Genesis 10:12-And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
Nineveh was "great" in respect to its sin.
Nineveh was the perfect place for God to display the wonder of His grace and mercy. He wanted to spare a city that couldn’t discern right from wrong
Did you notice when Jonah ran from God’s call that he "paid the fare"? Learn a lesson from this prophet. When you run from God’s call you will always "pay the fare."
Sin will take you farther than you want to go.
Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay.
Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.
1:3-He went down to Joppa…so he paid the fare, and went down into it
1:5-But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship
When we run away from God it always leads downward!
Notice where it leads when we surrender our life to God!
2:6-I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
But Jonah arose to flee…..But the LORD
For every action we have, God has a reaction
Psalm 139:7-8-Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Jeremiah 20:9-Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.
This was what I felt when I was running from God!
What has called you to do?
Maybe He has called your name to save you from your sins?
And if He has called your name to save you He has called you to serve Him!!!
Now there are different ways and different places to serve Him…God uses your personality, your past, the influences you’ve had in your life, your talents and He uses you at the place you work, the place you live, the places you visit.
At the end of this story, it ends like no other story found in the bible.
It ends with God rebuking Jonah for his lack of love and mercy toward others and we don’t know how Jonah responded to God’s rebuke.
So the question is how will you respond to God’s calling for your life?
You can say, "Yes" to God’s call for your life, or you can say, "No."
Jonah finally did what God asked him to do, but instead of rejoicing in what God was doing, he got angry how it turned out!
Maybe this morning you have issue with what God has called you to do, or maybe it hasn’t turned out like you thought it should have….As the old song goes, (Tell It To Jesus)
Maybe You should ask God to give you a love for the assignment He has for you!
