“Its Wickedness Has Come
Up
Before Me”
The
word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to
the great city of
But Jonah ran away
from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down
to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he
went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the
LORD.
Then the LORD sent a
great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened
to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each
cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the
ship.
But Jonah had gone
below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to
him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will
take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
Then the sailors said
to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who
is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So
they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for
making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come
from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
He answered, “I am a
Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry
land.”
This terrified them
and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the
LORD, because he had already told them so.)
The sea was
getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to
make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw
me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault
that this great storm has come upon you.”
Instead, the men did
their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even
wilder than before. Then they cried out to the LORD, “Please, LORD, do not let
us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an
innocent man, for you, LORD, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah
and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly
feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
Now
the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:1-17
God
sends winds through our lives to get rid of dead branches. He does some house
cleaning. When He does that it is usually over things we won’t release on our
own. Maybe it was something good, but now has no use. Maybe it is something
that no longer bears fruit.
Maybe
we have slid into bad habits or stubborn attitudes.
Make
your own list. Bitterness, anger, and evil speech.
When God shakes things up, we need to get rid of what He shakes loose.
Christ’s cleaning power can remove the most stubborn
stain of sin.
Our Daily Bread –