This past Sunday my son was ill, and as moms always do, I stayed home with him, missing morning worship. Realizing my soon-to-be 11 year old would want to "veg" in front of the wii station, I quickly made plans for us to spend time reading God's Word. I decided we would read the book of "Jonah", thinking he would be familiar with the story, which he was to some extent. Thank you God for Sunday school! He reassured me that he knew all about Jonah, and proceded to tell me that there wasn't a book of "Jonah" in the Bible.
I reassured him there was by having him look for it in the Table of Contents. To his surprise, there it was, the book of "Jonah" right between "Obadiah" and "Micah". Thus we entered into a teaching lesson on the minor prophets.
After reading the four chapters of "Jonah", I began to ask him some questions of comprehension (can't stop being a homeschooling mom for a moment) and then began to ask him some deep, heart-probing questions. This is what we discovered that morning together as we studied the Word.
We are all familiar with Jonah's attempt to escape and run away from God's request to go to Nineveh. His reasons are not stated directly in the text, but in chapter four Jonah's reason is revealed as he explains to God why he didn't want to go to Nineveh in the first place - a condemning, pious spirit. He new God was a gracious, slow to anger, forgiving God. Jonah was content to have the people of Nineveh burn and perish. He didn't think they were deserving of God's grace and forgiveness. Jonah chose to walk in disobedience and not bring a message to a foreign people who did not know wrong from right. God sent a storm in his life that brought him to the edge of death.
We can be just like Jonah. God prompts our hearts to share His grace and forgiveness with someone, and we think they are undeserving. We look down on them, maybe, because they're not quite like "us". Like Jonah, we are content to watch those around us burn and perish, while we possess the gift of eternal life that can set them free and save them. As a result of refusing God's request, we walk in disobedience. Ever found yourself in a storm and couldn't understand why? Sometimes the storms of life we find ourselves in are of our own making. Unfortunately, these storms not only affect us, but others around us, especially our families.
What do we do? We do what Jonah did. We jump ship or throw ourselves overboard - not literally. We have to take all of our preconceived ideas about who we think is worthy to be saved and our own self-righteous attitudes, and we have to throw them overboard. We have to realize that the Bible is true - "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that "God so loved (all) the world that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus) that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." We have to cry out to God for His mercy and forgiveness. We need to walk as a humble servant before all men, and allow God to show us how He wants to use us, rather than, us telling God how we will be used by Him by our lack of response.
Read Jonah's prayer in chapter two. Take some time to pray to the Lord. Ask Him to forgive you for not responding to His promptings, whatever the reason. Then ask him to help you have the courage to go where He sends you, even if its unfamiliar territory or an "out-of-your-comfort-zone" place. He may be trying to change you in the process of saving another.
I reassured him there was by having him look for it in the Table of Contents. To his surprise, there it was, the book of "Jonah" right between "Obadiah" and "Micah". Thus we entered into a teaching lesson on the minor prophets.
After reading the four chapters of "Jonah", I began to ask him some questions of comprehension (can't stop being a homeschooling mom for a moment) and then began to ask him some deep, heart-probing questions. This is what we discovered that morning together as we studied the Word.
We are all familiar with Jonah's attempt to escape and run away from God's request to go to Nineveh. His reasons are not stated directly in the text, but in chapter four Jonah's reason is revealed as he explains to God why he didn't want to go to Nineveh in the first place - a condemning, pious spirit. He new God was a gracious, slow to anger, forgiving God. Jonah was content to have the people of Nineveh burn and perish. He didn't think they were deserving of God's grace and forgiveness. Jonah chose to walk in disobedience and not bring a message to a foreign people who did not know wrong from right. God sent a storm in his life that brought him to the edge of death.
We can be just like Jonah. God prompts our hearts to share His grace and forgiveness with someone, and we think they are undeserving. We look down on them, maybe, because they're not quite like "us". Like Jonah, we are content to watch those around us burn and perish, while we possess the gift of eternal life that can set them free and save them. As a result of refusing God's request, we walk in disobedience. Ever found yourself in a storm and couldn't understand why? Sometimes the storms of life we find ourselves in are of our own making. Unfortunately, these storms not only affect us, but others around us, especially our families.
What do we do? We do what Jonah did. We jump ship or throw ourselves overboard - not literally. We have to take all of our preconceived ideas about who we think is worthy to be saved and our own self-righteous attitudes, and we have to throw them overboard. We have to realize that the Bible is true - "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that "God so loved (all) the world that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus) that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." We have to cry out to God for His mercy and forgiveness. We need to walk as a humble servant before all men, and allow God to show us how He wants to use us, rather than, us telling God how we will be used by Him by our lack of response.
Read Jonah's prayer in chapter two. Take some time to pray to the Lord. Ask Him to forgive you for not responding to His promptings, whatever the reason. Then ask him to help you have the courage to go where He sends you, even if its unfamiliar territory or an "out-of-your-comfort-zone" place. He may be trying to change you in the process of saving another.
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