Fleeing, The Opposite of Following

But Jonah ran away... ~ Jonah 1:3

Have you ever run away from something? I’m sure you have ...we all have, and hindsight usually reveals just how foolish and wasteful the behavior was.

 

But imagine running from God ...as if that’s even a possibility. What foolishness to think that the omnipresent God would not be able to track us down, that he’d somehow lose us in the world’s mass of humanity. Silly, I know!

 

The book of Jonah reveals that Jonah’s not running from the danger of Nineveh, the city he’s been sent to preach in, but that’s he’s running from God. He knows God’s compassion,  and he doesn’t want to see God forgive the Ninevites.

 

What we’re asked to consider is this -

What if God’s word reveals something about God that we don’t like?

What if he calls us to people we don’t like?

 

We can talk about the fish at another time, but for today, let’s consider the idea that we can’t turn and run away from God’s work and expect not to be exposed.

Lord, help us to remember that following is our calling, and that fleeing is the opposite of following.

 

Pray on...

Song: Sittin’ in a Belly