Many people are like Jonah. The prophet who fled from God and found himself in a storm and then in the belly of a great fish. Often we children are told the story of Jonah, they picture a giant whale, but the Bible says a great fish. It could have been Megalodon or some other great behemoth of the sea. In the case of Jonah, He knew the Lord and heard his command to go to Nineveh. The prophet did not like the prospect of going to a Gentile city that was known for its perversion.
Many believers are like Jonah, only instead of getting on a ship they get on a sail boat called religion. People who once listened to the Prince of Peace and were filled with His voice and presence, have forsaken it to do as they desire upon their own craft. They decide to flee from the Lord's Will and do their own and label it "for God." These Jonahs soon find themselves swallowed whole by religion's sea monster. There inside the belly of the beast, believers find the acid burn at their bodies and cover their lives like wet blanket.
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| Jonah and the Fish |
Jonah lived in the time of the Old Covenant and pre-Christ. So is it possible for a Christian to run from God when God lives in Him? Are we not different than Adam in the Garden who hid from the Almighty? Cannot now Christ know where we are at all times because He is within us? The answer is yes, but even though the Lord does lodge within his children, we can still run from Him. Many born again believers are running. They do it through alcohol, sexual perversions like Pornography, drugs, and the like. At first it seems they are burying their pain, but in truth they are trying to bury God.
In those desperate hours, when the darkness of this world seems to grab ahold of a person, rather than run to the Prince of Peace and rest in the arms of Christ, people run. They run in all directions, sailing on ships of addiction. Sometimes their medium of escape is not a harmful drug or perverse fetish, but another world in the pages and scenes of stories. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying a good book, if becomes your comfort instead of Christ, then like Jonah you have chosen a different ship than the divine choice.
Many run so long and hide in their hollow quarters that it seems that the Lord cannot find them. The truth is that Jesus knows where every sheep has gone, but those stubborn lambs risk being lost forever in the Outer Darkness. The Lord searches for his lost sheep (Luke 15:4), his lantern bright and his eyes keen to find them. But if you run too long, you risk falling into the black sea and be sunk in the deep depths of the devil. Jesus will dive in and even reach out his hand as he did for St. Peter, but if you refuse in your rebellion and risk your soul unto his Return, you then risk not being found on the shores of Paradise.
I believe our Lord and God is merciful and will make every effort to find those who go astray. But the hour is growing wait and those whose lamps are not lit when the Bridge groom comes will be locked out forever. (Matthew 25:1-13). No one is guaranteed a tomorrow and everyone is running out of time to be found. The time has come to stop sailing for our own isles of good ideas and stop listening to the lost navigators. The time has come for us to hand the wheel and stern to The Word and Savior! Jesus Christ must be our captain! We need to stay upon His ship of Salvation and keep doing our part to bring new crew aboard via the Gospel Message!
The time for jumping overboard and abandoning ship is over. Take your place on Ship Salvation and start doing what the Lord asks of you! May Christ look upon the bow, aft, and stern and see you easily without having to walk back unto the water to find you sinking in the seas of Satan! Be hard at work! For there is much more sailing to be done before Christ's Flag Ship called The Reckoning or Return makes its way to Earth! Be busy about Salvation, so that when the Lord makes port in Jerusalem, we may be found not sinking, but standing firm and sending many into His Kingdom.
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