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Jonah 1:3 – Grace to Jonah (April 18)
Hello and thanks for joining in on to today’s daily devotion. Today is Monday. April 18th. The 2nd day of the Hebraic week.
Our verse today is Jonah 1:3.
But Jonah ran away from YHWH 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 YHWH.
Well, we’ve all heard this story how many times? Yet, it never seems to get old. There is one thing that just gets me about this story. It’s that Jonah actually thought he could run from YHWH. I mean, really? How could he think that?
While YHWH reserves the right to let us walk in our rebellion, there is truly no where to run from His presence. Something tells me deep inside that Jonah really knew this. He was a prophet. It just seems that he had to know this.
So was Jonah really trying to run from YHWH, or trying to simply run from his responsibilities that YHWH had given him? While we all look at YHWH’s grace given in this story to the people of Nineveh, I believe all too often we overlook the grace given to Jonah. YHWH could have let him go off in his rebellion and chosen someone else. However, in grace, YHWH did not let Jonah continue in his rebellion.
Is YHWH calling you to do something that you don’t want to do? Remember, He didn’t have to extend grace to Jonah. And while YHWH is truly gracious, there is no guarantee that He won’t let you persist in your rebellion.
Let this be a focus in your time of meditation throughout the day. Until tomorrow, shalom!
