God Gets Jonah's Attention

Jonah tries to run and hide from God…but it doesn’t work. And to his dismay, his actions endanger the lives of many others! As you study, consider both Jonah and the sailors in the story. Where do you see soft-hearts in this passage? Reflect on the ways that God has gotten your attention or softened your heart before. 

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

Click here to access the reading from Jonah 1:4-17 

For more help use this Bible Study method

REFLECTION

Different Yet Created Alike

by Tom Richards

  

Today we read about Jonah who is called by God to take a message to the people of Nineveh, people who are not like him. Nineveh, which was located on the outskirts of modern day Mosul in northern Iraq, was a major city of the Assyrians. The Assyrians were a cruel, conquering people – an enemy of the Jews. 

Jonah clearly does not want to deliver God’s call to repentance to the people of this city, and today we see him running away from God’s command. He finds himself on a ship in the middle of a storm with a group of gentile sailors who are not like him. And in a sense, just like with the Ninevites, Jonah is reluctant to share God’s saving message with the sailors. 

I believe it is clear that God wants us to share his saving message, the gospel, with people who are not like us. We’ve heard the story of the “Good Samaritan” and the “Woman at the Well”.  And the “Great Commission” makes this pretty clear:  Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”  

Like Jonah, I am often reluctant to follow God’s command. I like to be with people who are like me. It is comfortable and relatively easy. I don’t think this is wrong in and of itself, but there should be room in my life for people who are not like me. 

At UALC we have lots of opportunities to make this happen. By going to the UALC home page and clicking on “Serve” you will find numerous ways to take God’s message to the “world”. 

Today there is a lot of “noise” among people who are different from each other. But if you think about it, people today are no different than they were in Jonah’s time. We are all “in the same boat” of sin, just like Jonah and the sailors. We all need a message of salvation and God has provided for that need in the person of his son, Jesus Christ. Amen!

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER      

TRUTH  In the midst of all the messages being heard, pray for accurate information to drown out false reporting and click-bait tactics.