{"id":14246,"date":"2013-09-27T14:25:26","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T03:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?page_id=14246"},"modified":"2013-09-27T14:34:46","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T03:34:46","slug":"sixteen-days-with-jonah-day-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/studies\/jonah\/sixteen-days-with-jonah-day-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixteen Days with Jonah – Day 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonah 1:3<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a03<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> 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. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Acts 10:25-29, 34-36<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

25<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. <\/i><\/span><\/span>26<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> But Peter made him get up. \u201cStand up,\u201d he said, \u201cI am only a man myself.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a027<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. <\/i><\/span><\/span>28<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> He said to them: \u201cYou are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. <\/i><\/span><\/span>29<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?\u201d . . . <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

34<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> Then Peter began to speak: \u201cI now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism <\/i><\/span><\/span>35<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. <\/i><\/span><\/span>36<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Bible is the history of God\u2019s dealing with His people. It includes our \u2018dark side\u2019 as well as our \u2018light (or good) side\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of Jonah arising and following God\u2019s call on his life, he arises and flees from God! We would have hoped Jonah would respond as did Peter, <\/span>God has shown me\u2026so when I was sent for, I came\u2026 <\/i><\/span>(Acts 10:28,29) But, it was not to be. In fact, Jonah runs to Joppa: the opposite direction to Nineveh! <\/span><\/p>\n

I can understand Jonah\u2019s resistance to God\u2019s command to minister to the people of Nineveh. They had defeated and oppressed the people of Israel. We learn later, Jonah 4:2, that Jonah\u2019s disobedience is fuelled by his distress that God would show compassion rather than punishment! But in doing so, Jonah refuses to be a part of God\u2019s dealings with all the people of the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Too often, God\u2019s people become so self-centered that they have no concern for anyone else, let alone their enemies: in this case, the Assyrians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years I have made excuses to evade God\u2019s command to share his gospel call to repentance and a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. At times I have not spoken to a neighbour, assisted a work colleague or spent precious time with a distressed person. Sadly, in this way I have refused to be part of God\u2019s work in the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Calling God, strengthen me to respond with joy and commitment to your stirring voice. Forgive my failures. May the Spirit of Christ daily empower me for your service. Amen.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonah 1:3 \u00a03 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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":14238,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14246"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14246"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14276,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14246\/revisions\/14276"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}