My 5 Acres

 Jonah 1:1-6

Jonah Flees the Presence of the LORD

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.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

(ESV)

Have we become like Jonah? Have we become afraid of calling out evil and running away?

The pagans are crying out, looking for something they cannot find.

But have we gone down to the inner part of the church building and fallen asleep?

Must the pagans come down and wake us up and throw us overboard to get us to do God's will?

Now, God is probably not telling us to go into a city and tell them that in 40 days they will be overthrown.

But we have been told to tell the world that the wages of sin is death and that they must repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Now, we don't need to go out with big signs and billboards causing massive disturbance.

We should be like Stephen in Acts 6:8

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

We need to remember: 2 Timothy 2:24-26

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

(ESV)

“What do you mean, you sleeper?

That finger is pointing is pointing at me.