“Jonah, A Man On The Run” by Pastor Alan DiDio “The word of the Lord came to Jonah “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." Jonah 1:1-3 The Assyrian Empire was a violent empire that rose to world dominance during the life of Jonah. Their armies may have been slow moving but they spread across the global landscape like locust. The armies themselves traveled with their women and children and they would over power cities, like a mob, with shear numbers. They were so feared and dreaded that on some occasions an entire town would commit suicide rather than fall into their hands. Jonah’s own home, family, and friends were undoubtedly pillaged and attacked by the Assyrians. They were ruthless and their pitiless capital was a city called Nineveh. Jonah hated the people of Nineveh and for good reason. Isn’t it amazing that God will often call us to minister to the very people who have hurt us the most? It’s certainly a spiritual “gut-check” to see if the love of God truly dwells in us. Jesus said, “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven… If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? …Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:43-48) That’s a tall order and Jonah wasn’t ready to fill it, so he ran. Jonah is told to go 500-700 miles in the North Easterly direction to Nineveh but instead, he goes down to Joppa and buys a ticket to go West 2,000 miles toward Tarshish. Interestingly enough hundreds of years later another man is sitting in Joppa and God tells him to Go and minister to an evil and unclean people… His name was Peter (Acts 10). It’s important for you to know that Jonah did not run from the “presence of God” as we know it (after all, where can you run from an omnipresent God?). The reality is that Jonah ran from the “purpose” of God. I’m convinced that many people today aren’t running from God. They love God and many of them know God but what scares them is His purpose for their lives. This is not uncommon. Today men and women may not take ships to distant ports thinking that God’s authority has geographical limits but we constantly shrink away from whatever would bring us face to face with Him. As a pastor I can testify that men and women will fight vehemently to keep their current lives intact and avoid any type of change. People fear change and avoid the greater degrees of God’s presence in an effort to ignore his call to sacrifice. We want God, but we don’t want Him to change anything and so as men run to seek shelter from God’s purpose; they fill their time with sports, TV, or books hoping another’s thoughts or actions will stand as a distraction between them and God, they work endless hours in an effort to forget that God has asked something of them and they let the talk and laughter of friends drown out the pleading of the Holy Spirit. This is why men and women run to sin because its pursuit provides a distraction from the aching void of an unfulfilled purpose. None of us want to run from God but all of us, in some way or another, are running from His purpose. In what way have you been avoiding God’s purpose? Have you been staying away from Church, Bible Reading, or Prayer because you know that God will require something of you? Learn the lesson of Jonah; No matter how far you’ve run, God still has a purpose for you and His Grace is sufficient enough to get you back on track. Start the journey back to your spiritual Nineveh today… otherwise, God’s got a fish prepared just for you.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 14:28:01 +0000
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