Last night, we took an insiders look inside the life of this man called Jonah. Jonah had something that he needed to take care of...get rid of...before God could use him.In Jonah 1:1-2, we see the first time that God spoke to Jonah. "Arise, go to Nineveh and cry out against their wicked ways". Arise...Go...Cry Out. All three commands of God. In reality, we saw that Jonah was: A Specific Person at a Specific Time to do a Specific Task.
We looked into the problems or reasons why Jonah wouldn't want to do this. One, Jonah was Hebrew and the people in Nineveh were Gentiles. Then we looked into the actual evil that going on in Nineveh. Truly, this was a wicked city.
Verse 3 told us what Jonah did INSTEAD OF obeying God. In simple terms, he chose to deliberately run away from God...to disobey Him. Almost always, when we choose to knowingly disobey God, there are consequences that we will have to pay. In Jonah's situation, there were extreme circumstances that he DID pay.
We finished Chapter 1 looking into what happened next in Jonah's life. He tries to flee from God, gets on a ship that gets caught in a major storm. The mariners on the boat throw him overboard...THEN, he gets swallowed by this great fish that God had created just for that special purpose.
We imagined what it could have been like for Jonah as he spent the next 3 days in the belly of that great fish. In all honesty, that's really gross! It's hard for me to visualize that. Here he was, inside the belly of the fish...pitch black...slimey...wet...gooey...things moving all around you...other live sea creatures inside the fish's belly with you, yet you didn't know what they were because you couldn't see them in the darkness. All the while, this fish is still swimming out-and-about in the sea. YUCK! At the end of three days in this miserable situation, Jonah calls out to God from inside the belly of the fish. Sometimes we think that God won't hear us because we really deep in a messy situation somewhere. This should tell you that if God can hear Jonah from inside the belly of a fish, He can certainly hear you! God DOES hear Jonah, and commands the fish to vomit Jonah out of it's stomach and onto a beach. Jonah was now a free man. He can honestly give brand new meaning to the term: "I've been slimmed!"
Chapter 3 tells us that God again tells Jonah what He wants done. It's the same thing He had told Jonah, back in Chapter 1. Arise...Go...Cry Out against that wicked city. This time, however, Jonah listens to God, and obeys His commands.
What had happened? What had caused Jonah to now obey God. Real simple. Jonah had something in his life that he needed to get rid of...something that he needed to throw away. Something in his life was keeping him from obeying God. What was it?
His attitude. His rebellious attitude. This major sin in Jonah's life was keeping him from obeying God and living the life that God had planned for him. When Jonah decided to get rid of that sin...his rebellious attitude, his life aligned with God's plan for him, and he was ready to be obedient. Spending 3 days in the belly of a fish would certainly get to me too!
A Specific Person at a Specific Time to do a Specific Task. That was Jonah.
But what about you? What kind of 'trash' in your life do you need to get rid of, so you can be obedient to God? Is God working in your life right now? Are YOU that specific person, and RIGHT NOW is the specific time to do a specific TASK that God has specifically chosen you for?
I encourage you RIGHT NOW, let's do some 'inner' house keeping. Get rid of that 'trash' that's keeping you from experiencing God and obeying His commands. You CAN do this! Philippians 4:13 tells us that "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
Be strong! Go ahead, take out the trash!
Have an incredible week. If you need me, EMAIL ME HERE!
Jim
