CHANGES IN 2011. PLEASE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE COLUMN ON THE RIGHT.
Jonah is more than a "whale" of a story (pun intended). It's a story of the mystery of God's plan -- to bring salvation to the capital city of Israel's greatest enemy at the time. It's a story of a man hearing God's call and running the other way -- even being willing to perish in the sea rather than do God's will. It's a story of learning to trust God's judgment and His mercy. It's a story of God using Jonah's rebellion and deliverance from the great fish to convict the hearts of pagan people. And...it's more than a story. Way more! Some modern intellectuals want to discount it as a fairy tale. But Jesus quoted from it and called it a sign of his death, burial and resurrection. If Jesus said that it was true, that's good enough for me.
I picked up a new insight during this reading. In Chapter 2, Jonah prayed from the belly of the great fish: "8 Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. 9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows." Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Israel's greatest enemy. He is sure that they won't listen anyway, since they worship false gods. Later he got angry because they DID listen and repented, leading to God's forgiveness. I can be just as ambivalent as Jonah!
Revelation. I encourage you to just soak in this scene which takes place in eternity. John was devastated that no one was worthy to open the scroll until Jesus Christ was revealed as the One who "won the victory." Read how the great living beings in heaven fall and worship Him; you will get a picture of our future. My mind travels at this time of year to Handel's Messiah, a chorus of which comes from this passage. It's playing in my head right now.
Psalms. I sat recently in a room with twelve other people, all Prayer Partners at Stone Ridge Church. As I heard their stories and became aware of the widely diverse background in age, education and Christian experience which they come from, I noticed something very powerful. You could say in a way that they were a living picture of Psalm 133. How good and how pleasant it is!
Proverbs. We in our country have been so drilled with demanding our rights that we often forget that it is God who provides and God who ultimately judges. Our ultimate dependence must be upon Him.
What is He saying to you today?
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