"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" (Jonah 1:5).
Too many people make up in speed for what they lack in direction!
Jonah was in the wrong location: he should have been walking on solid ground in Nineveh rather than staggering on the rolling sea. Jonah was with the wrong company: he should have been meeting with Nineveh's sinners and seekers instead of cursing sailors.
Sure the sailors were religious - in times of crisis we all are! And while they cried out to their gods and tried to save the ship, Jonah slept. The sailors were so amazed that a man with such a bad conscience could sleep so well!
Jonah had a wrong theology: God cares for Jews only. He had a wrong attitude toward Gentiles: Get lost! (Doing nothing or running away is the same as saying "Get lost.")
But God loves lost people and so He gives us a second chance. Yes, that's true today. God has not written off the world. Or you. Or the person you are going to meet in your "Nineveh."
Question: Hasn't the world passed the point of "no return"?
I don't believe that. There is still hope. God can still change a city, a society, a nation. What will it take for us to wake up and realize that now is the time for us to announce God's solution to a desperate world? Must we first endure a few more horrific terrorist attacks - is that what is necessary to wake us up?
Answer: Who knows? (Jonah 3:9) God knows and He's calling you. You may not know the answers. But you can know God - His character, His love. And that's enough, provided you recognize His voice.
Most Christians do not know God. They sit east of the city (Jonah 4:5a) to watch the sun set on a sinful world, to watch cultures destroyed and peoples lost. They just sit and watch it on TV.
That's Spectator Christianity.
"It's terrible to be in chains
To die in captivity.
But it's worse to sleep, to sleep, to sleep in liberty."
[From a Czechoslovakian poem during Communism.]
Too many people make up in speed for what they lack in direction!
Jonah was in the wrong location: he should have been walking on solid ground in Nineveh rather than staggering on the rolling sea. Jonah was with the wrong company: he should have been meeting with Nineveh's sinners and seekers instead of cursing sailors.
Sure the sailors were religious - in times of crisis we all are! And while they cried out to their gods and tried to save the ship, Jonah slept. The sailors were so amazed that a man with such a bad conscience could sleep so well!
Jonah had a wrong theology: God cares for Jews only. He had a wrong attitude toward Gentiles: Get lost! (Doing nothing or running away is the same as saying "Get lost.")
But God loves lost people and so He gives us a second chance. Yes, that's true today. God has not written off the world. Or you. Or the person you are going to meet in your "Nineveh."
Question: Hasn't the world passed the point of "no return"?
I don't believe that. There is still hope. God can still change a city, a society, a nation. What will it take for us to wake up and realize that now is the time for us to announce God's solution to a desperate world? Must we first endure a few more horrific terrorist attacks - is that what is necessary to wake us up?
Answer: Who knows? (Jonah 3:9) God knows and He's calling you. You may not know the answers. But you can know God - His character, His love. And that's enough, provided you recognize His voice.
Most Christians do not know God. They sit east of the city (Jonah 4:5a) to watch the sun set on a sinful world, to watch cultures destroyed and peoples lost. They just sit and watch it on TV.
That's Spectator Christianity.
"It's terrible to be in chains
To die in captivity.
But it's worse to sleep, to sleep, to sleep in liberty."
[From a Czechoslovakian poem during Communism.]
