Reading
JONAH
1, 2, and 3 John intertwine the themes of love and obedience—to love God is to obey him. Jonah is an example of someone who heard clear direction from God and decided to disobey. As we hear from God, we have a choice to either obey or disobey. Jonah’s disobedience had direct consequences. As you read today, think about the fact that God calls us to obey and there are consequences for our disobedience.
JONAH 1:1-4
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
JONAH 1:9-12
9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
10 The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”
JONAH 1:15-17
15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
JONAH 2:1-4
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said,
“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,]
and Lord, you heard me!
3 You threw me into the ocean depths,
and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me;
I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’
JONAH 2:10
Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
JONAH 3:1-5
1 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
3 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
JONAH 3:10
When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Reflection
- Praise God for the storm and the fish! As Jonah is living in disobedience, God sends a storm to wake him up and a fish to save him from certain death. We see a response of obedience after Jonah’s rock bottom moment.
- As Jonah obeys, God moves. Think about who is waiting on our obedience.
- Is there something we’re delaying obedience in?
- Do we actually believe God could use us to accomplish his purpose? Why or why not?
- Who are people around us that would benefit from our obedience?