This is a story of Jonah is about obedience.  It’s about someone who loves God, someone who has been used by God in great ways, and someone who wants to serve God with all of his heart.  It’s a story about a man who hears from God.  But the big point of this story is that it’s a man who doesn’t want to do what God is asking him to do.  Instead, he runs away.

Main Points:

1.  The Old Testament story challenges us because there is a little of Jonah in us too.  We are sometimes conflicted.  We can struggle with some of the things God says.  We read His Word and He asks certain things of us and we don’t always like what we read. 

2. Jonah is called by many the “reluctant prophet.”  I think that’s an appropriate nickname.  But we can’t be too harsh on Jonah because we too are often reluctant to obey God. Sometimes, we too would like to get on a ship and go the other way instead of obeying Him.

3. There are so many things God will say to us as we follow him.  He is shaping us.  He is molding us.  He is making us more like Jesus.  He is deepening and maturing our faith but it requires obedience.  It requires us to be willing and to cooperate with his Word.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Jonah 1:1-3 - “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 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.”

Psalm 139:7-8 - “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

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