Jonah and the Boat

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Jonah 1

We often call this story “Jonah and the Whale.” But today, I want to call this story, “Jonah and the Boat.”
Who was Jonah? A Prophet. A prophet serves God, speaks God’s words to the people.
God gave Jonah a message for a people, people who lived in a place called, Nineveh.
These people were bad. They were wicked. And Jonah did not want to do it.
Why do you think Jonah did not want to do it? Was he afraid? Do you think he didn’t like the people, or the travel… or what?
In any case… Jonah ran away from doing what God told him to do. He did not want to obey.
Now, get what happens next: Jonah gets on a boat/ship, and he goes in the opposite direction, toward Tarshish. He was running from God and from what God told him to do.
Question: Can you run from God? Is there anywhere you can hide from God?
God is everywhere… So why run… right?
But check this out: Verse 4 - The Lord caused a great storm to come on them out in the sea.
There were other people on that boat. It wasn’t just Jonah. It was Jonah, plus the Captain, and plus all the other sailors on board.
All of them were suffering… Why? Because Jonah was disobedient. All of them were going through a bad experience… Why? Because Jonah would not do what God told him to do… Because he would not say what God wanted him to say.
What if I was suppose to tell you, my boss told me to tell everyone, or my parents told me to tell everyone... that if you kept on walking down the road… that you would fall off a mountain, or that bears would most likely eat you...
If I did not obey, and do what I was suppose to do… Who all would get hurt?
What if my parents or my boss said… “This is your job: I want you to tell everyone, to not go into that building, because the building is on fire…” But then I left and didn’t do what I was suppose to do.
What is going to happen to the people who go in?
Now: God wanted Jonah to go and tell the people in Nineveh that they were going the wrong way, and if they did not stop going the wrong way… they were going to die… But he would not tell them.
What is going to happen to those people?
But now… Lets back up to the boat...
These people were suffering, because of Jonah’s sin… and they didn’t know anything...
What is that about?
Is it possible… If I disobey God… Will I, can I hurt innocent people?
If I disobey God, and I do not tell them about Jesus, they will go to hell one day… and that will be terrible...
But what about this: What if I disobey God and talk bad about someone in my family, or at school… What that hurt someone?
What if I call myself a Christian… and I disobey God, and cussed someone out… Who all would that hurt? That could hurt a lot of people.
What if a mom or dad, disobeyed God and they were mean… Could they hurt someone innocent at home?
Sure.
When we disobey God, it will not only hurt just us and our relationship with God… It will hurt a lot of people around us.
Jonah told them “Throw me out into the sea, get rid of me, and you will live...”
And I remember what Jesus said, “If you cause one of these little ones to stumble… It would be better if a mill stone was hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea...
God does not want us hurting anyone...
So, when God tells us to do something… We should do it. We should do it as fast as possible. God wants us to help people, not hurt people...
And we can’t obey God when we are running away from God.
Don’t run away from God. Run to God.
And help someone today.
When God tells you to do something, to say something… Do it.
Y’all have been reading Acts. This may be what we need to do: Acts 4:29- “Lord, help us to speak your word with boldness...”
Pray.
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