"Jesus or Jonah?" May 3 Readings: Jonah
Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024
This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.
Bible Readings: Jonah 1-4
Background:
Jonah was happy that God was going to judge the Assyrians and he ran because he knew the graciousness of God. The story of Jonah is not about a rebellious and sinful man, but about a man of prejudice who wanted God to love only "me and mine." He even ended the book pouting that God had saved the Assyrians.
And yet God used him, in spite of himself. God didn't give up on him. God's grace is greater than our sin, our selfishness, and even our prejudice.
Daily Devotional: Jesus or Jonah?
I love the story of Jesus and his disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. As the storm rages all around them and the disciples (some professional fishermen) are panicking in fear for their lives, Jesus is sleeping at the bottom of the boat, trusting fully the power and plan of God. His trust in God allowed him to sleep when others were panicking.
But there's another story of someone sleeping in a boat while the professionals are panicking, but this time the story is completely different. Jonah was not trusting God, he was running from God. God had assigned him a duty - to go to Nineveh and minister to the Assyrians. He did not want to do that. He hated them and was more than happy for God to judge them. He knew God would grant repentance to them (as the story ended) and he wanted no part in that. He ran the other way. God's judgment was being poured out on that little boat because of his disobedience and his hatred for the Assyrians.
Where was Jonah? He was asleep at the bottom of the boat! (Jonah 1:5) That's right. He was not grieving under conviction. No sleepless nights of angst over his disobedience. No emotional turmoil or troubled conscience. His heart was hard. While the world around him was falling apart and about to be destroyed, he was asleep - without conscience, without conviction, without a care in the world. Perhaps he was like King David, overwhelmed in self-righteous anger about the man who stole another man's sheep until Nathan pointed the finger and said, "You are the man." The men on the boat woke him up and they cast lots until the divine hand pointed at him and said, "You are the man."
Two boats, two sleeping men. One was asleep because he was resting in God. The other was so hard-hearted that he had no concern for the things of God. Which do you think best describes you? Which is the best analogy for your church? For the American Church?
I am afraid that all too often we are far more Jonah than Jesus! We are sleeping while the judgment falls, twiddling our thumbs and watching the judgment of God come upon this world while we walk unconcerned - as long as I have money in the bank, as long as my team wins, as long as I am healthy and my family is well! We are far too concerned with ME, with MY things, with MY life than with the work of God in this world.
Jesus was asleep because he was fully and completely committed to the work of God. He was resting in God and in God's plan. Jonah was asleep because he was so divorced from the work of God and the plan of God that it held no concern for him. We cannot be like Jonah for long. God has called us to his Great Commission and if we run from it he will send the Spirit to shake us awake in some way and say, "You are the man." Better to simply cast ourselves into the hands of God and trust completely in him. Better to yield completely to his will, his ways, and his word so that we can live out his purposes.
But there's another story of someone sleeping in a boat while the professionals are panicking, but this time the story is completely different. Jonah was not trusting God, he was running from God. God had assigned him a duty - to go to Nineveh and minister to the Assyrians. He did not want to do that. He hated them and was more than happy for God to judge them. He knew God would grant repentance to them (as the story ended) and he wanted no part in that. He ran the other way. God's judgment was being poured out on that little boat because of his disobedience and his hatred for the Assyrians.
Where was Jonah? He was asleep at the bottom of the boat! (Jonah 1:5) That's right. He was not grieving under conviction. No sleepless nights of angst over his disobedience. No emotional turmoil or troubled conscience. His heart was hard. While the world around him was falling apart and about to be destroyed, he was asleep - without conscience, without conviction, without a care in the world. Perhaps he was like King David, overwhelmed in self-righteous anger about the man who stole another man's sheep until Nathan pointed the finger and said, "You are the man." The men on the boat woke him up and they cast lots until the divine hand pointed at him and said, "You are the man."
Two boats, two sleeping men. One was asleep because he was resting in God. The other was so hard-hearted that he had no concern for the things of God. Which do you think best describes you? Which is the best analogy for your church? For the American Church?
I am afraid that all too often we are far more Jonah than Jesus! We are sleeping while the judgment falls, twiddling our thumbs and watching the judgment of God come upon this world while we walk unconcerned - as long as I have money in the bank, as long as my team wins, as long as I am healthy and my family is well! We are far too concerned with ME, with MY things, with MY life than with the work of God in this world.
Jesus was asleep because he was fully and completely committed to the work of God. He was resting in God and in God's plan. Jonah was asleep because he was so divorced from the work of God and the plan of God that it held no concern for him. We cannot be like Jonah for long. God has called us to his Great Commission and if we run from it he will send the Spirit to shake us awake in some way and say, "You are the man." Better to simply cast ourselves into the hands of God and trust completely in him. Better to yield completely to his will, his ways, and his word so that we can live out his purposes.
Father, may I be like Jesus, resting in you and your plan, and not like Jonah, unconcerned with your work in this world.
Consider God's Word:
Which "sleeping man" better describes you?
Are you resting in Christ or living in blindness to what God is doing?
Are you resting in Christ or living in blindness to what God is doing?
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