Now The Word

“Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Verse 3, begins with "But", for Jonah did not do what God wanted him to do. He chose not to obey the word of The LORD! He ran from God. 

Verse 4 also begins with "But" - in response to Jonah's disobedience.

“But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

How many times in our life have we run from God? How many times have we chosen to ignore God's commands? How many calamities, sent by God, have we suffered because of our rebellion, and finally, when they became unbearable have we cried out to Him for mercy?

“Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”  ‭Jonah‬ ‭2:7-9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

When God turns up the heat, in our fiery trials, to bring us to repentance, we eliminate the "buts!"

Next, we see, Nineveh immediately respond to Jonah's warning in complete submission. 

“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭3:4-9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Sackcloth and fasting; man and beast!

God gave them 40 days; a warning most don't receive when destruction is on its way, so we are commanded to live daily, in obedience to God, like there is no tomorrow; for our lives are but a vapor. 

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”  ‭‭James‬ ‭4:14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

If we knew we were facing death, would we change our ways? If we knew we had days, not years, would we spend each remaining moment, turning back to God; repenting of sins we had hidden in our heart?

I work with many people who are advanced in years and they speak to me of remorse! Each week there is another memory of regret; pain still fresh; every detail surfacing in a foggy brain. I ask them if they want to forgive the injury and their response is, "oh, I've forgiven them" yet just the fact the memory surfaced shows it is unsettled. 

How many times have I said "if it still hurts, it's unforgiven"? 

What many do not grasp is that unforgiveness is a sin, of which we must repent! So you may have said, "I forgive", but if you have held on to the issue for a while, you did so in rebellion to God's command! You must repent of your disobedience!  Unforgiveness is serious business! 

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew‬ ‭6:14-15‬ ‭KJV 

 - neither will your Father forgive you

Do you need forgiveness?

I know I do!

Father, shine a light on the darkness hiding in our hearts. Bring an awareness of the sins hiding there for which we need to repent. Let us live the remainder of our days with eternity in mind, knowing our days are short! Let the words of Jesus echo through our mind, and drive us to our knees: 

“. . . Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

If you were told you would die tomorrow, how would you spend your day? 

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:21-23‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Even so - MARANATHA!