SCRIP-BITS

Jonah 1:2.        Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry (out) against it; for their wickedness is come before me.

And after the rain comes the sun … that’s the Lord’s decree. And so it’s been this Friday morning in early May, when the trees are blooming with new life and a picturesque colour of green foliage. That tells us that it’s surely spring, the rebirth of our dead world in the northern climes. And with that breath of freshness in the air, our Friday Mantra rose gaily to heaven: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is here at long last!’

And is it ever so nice to see leaves on the trees again. By the way, that tree in my neighbour’s backyard still has the old leaves that survived the winter, blowing along with the new ones. You can see their light brown colour amongst the light green of the new leaves. Will keep you informed on that unusual scenario. (smile)  

And today, we’ll also look at another interesting story, that of the prophet Jonah. The Bible tells it thus: ‘Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah (Dove) the son of Amittai (Truth), saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry (out) against it; for their wickedness is come before me.’ (Jon. 1:1-2)

Now, that’s how it usually begins; with a directive from the Lord that we don’t care for. So what happens then? We make multiple excuses and then disobey the Lord’s directive. And Jonah was no different. The Bible continues: ‘But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.’ (Jon. 1:3) 

How foolish was that eh? Did Jonah really expect to escape from the Lord’s presence? Likewise, do we really expect to escape from His presence when we run and hide from Him? Oh friends, hiding from Almighty God is impossible, because He’s omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present. Meaning, He’s all powerful, all knowing, and all present, or present everywhere. So, I don’t know if Jonah really thought he could run from the Lord without any consequences. But hopefully we know that. (smile)

And during the journey to Tarshish, a big storm arose, that wanted to break up the boat. So the voyagers were all afraid, and cried out to their own god, while casting out stuff to lighten the boat. ‘But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.’  (Jon. 1:5b) Like Jonah was doing a Jesus routine; fast asleep during the storm, while the boat was about to break up. (Mark 4:35-41) But like Jesus, his restful sleep was unfortunately disturbed.

‘So the shipmaster (captain) came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil (trouble) is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.’ (Jon. 1:6-7) How amazing eh mih people for the lot to fall on Jonah! But we all know that was the hand of the Lord working in His mysterious ways.

And there’s one important thing to note here; in our disobedience, or running from God, we don’t only hurt ourselves, but very often innocent people too. The other people on the ship didn’t do anything to warrant the trouble, but Jonah’s disobedient presence amongst them, forced them to withstand unnecessary trouble. So please, let’s think seriously about what we’re doing when we try to get away from God, for some of our LOVED ones might end up suffering for our disobedience.

The long and short of Jonah’s story is that he eventually told his shipmates what was happening with him. And when they asked what they could do so that the sea would be calm; ‘And he said unto them, Take (pick) me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto (for) you: for I know that for my sake (because of me) this great tempest is upon you.’ (Jon. 1:12) But the men didn’t take him seriously and still rowed hard through the storm trying to come to land.

But the storm was too powerful for them. ‘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 (do not charge us) with innocent blood: for thou O Lord hast done as it pleased thee.’ (Jon. 1:14) And there was  absolutely no doubt about that; the Lord had indeed done as He pleased. (smile) ‘So they took up (lifted) Jonah, and cast him forth (hurled him) into the sea: and the sea ceased her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.’ (Jon. 1:15-16)

Now, it doesn’t always happen thus, but fortunately in this case, Jonah’s disobedience might also have created some believers, as they witnessed God’s immense power. However, the safest way to stop potential trouble from happening, is always to obey the Lord’s directive. And tomorrow, if God spares life, we will continue with Jonah’s story, and see what other valuable lessons we can learn from it. Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant seeking divine aid to help in these troubled times.

Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work. It hasn’t been easy but with your generous help, I made it through. You know our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving, and we desperately need your help to fix them. Heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. So please give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And despite the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times, help us to be responsible, and get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that we can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out next week and further your glorious kingdom by the good example we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And as we keep saying, it’s not only the unbelievers who need to wake up and smell the coffee, but also we supposedly faithful believers, because our Christian witness still leaves a lot to be desired. Much LOVE!

…oh…how we hurt ourselves and others…when we intentionally disobey God…

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