"The word of the Lord came to Jonah...But, Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish." (Jonah 1:1-3)
There is not another book in Literature that has suffered as much from both friend and foe. Readers spend more time discussing the great fish that swallowed Jonah than the intended message. Once, there was a Prince that loved and wished to wed a peasant girl. He sent her an engagement ring in a beautiful box. She wore the box and lost the ring.
As with Jonah, the Word of the Lord comes to you and me. It comes in different ways. It comes through Bible study, words of a friend, a worship assembly and etc. God gave Jonah a strange and unwelcomed message. "Go to Nineveh." Jonah objected not because he thought the message had no appeal---every man has an insatiable hunger that only God can satisfy. He did not go because he thought God was for the Jews only. Too bad this belief did not perish with Jonah.
Jonah headed toward Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. Would God's presence have been---in the wicked city, Nineveh?
Jonah boards a ship and fall asleep. The man who makes up his mind to do wrong is more at peace than one undecided. Thank God if one's disobedience does not permit sleep.
God, in His mercy, sends a storm and Jonah becomes more dangerous than TNT in the ship. His rebellion was a risk of life to others. This is always true. The solution was to throw Jonah overboard. A New England farmer, on a cold day, picked up a mother and infant in his wagon. He noticed the mother dozing and then sleeping. He, with force, dragged her from the wagon and made her run behind. It saved her from freezing. Sometime, we need a storm in our life to awaken us. And, remember, no man ever flees from duty without hurt to self and others.
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