A Man Named Jonah!

Jonah is an Old Testament figure very familiar to most of us. The book bearing his name and telling his story is only four chapters in length; the main parts of which can generally be told in a matter of a few minutes. Yet there are a number of lessons we can gain from what is recorded in those pages regarding the life of Jonah. I believe God has preserved this account for us to remember more than a man who was swallowed by a great fish.

A group of children who had just heard the story of Jonah were asked by their teacher what lesson they had learned. One child responded, “You can’t keep a good man down!” We might debate whether or not Jonah was really a “good” man. He definitely had an attitude problem. Yet as the account begins:

“(1) Now the WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JONAH the son of Amittai, saying, (2) ‘ARISE, GO to Nineveh, that great city, AND CALL OUT against it, for their evil has come up before me.’” ( Jonah 1:1-2 ESV)

The fact remains God used Jonah for a task which proved to be fruitful. We have an amazing God Who can even carry on His work in spite of bad attitudes. One of the things we can praise God for is that He did not wait until even His messengers got their act together before using them. He used folk who were still in need of fine-tuning within their own lives. I find that quite encouraging. I must confess that sometimes my attitude is not what it should be. But if we allow God, He will use us even as we strive to grow into Christ-likeness in attitude, action, and speech.

Join me as we begin a walk with Jonah. Let us be open to what we will learn about ourselves and the Perfect God Who can use imperfect people in His work.

Have a great day TRUSTING GOD’S POWER TO WORK THROUGH US!
Carl

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