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Thursday's Thoughts- Jonah Chapter One

Jonah Chapter One

The story of Jonah is well known. Many kids learn it from a young age in Sunday school but I feel that it teaches lessons for people of every age so for the next four lessons we'll be diving into the book of Jonah to find those lessons.
We'll begin, of course, at the beginning.
1-3. Jonah is a renowned prophet in his land and is used quite often by God to give messages to the children of Israel, but in the first three verses we see that he has some obedience issues. God calls him to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, which was at the time holding Israel in captivity. Nineveh was a bad place full of people who were committing adultery, thievery, and even murder. God wanted Jonah to go there and teach them about God so that they would repent, but Jonah had other ideas. He tried to run from God by going in the opposite direction- Tarshish. This was a big mistake because we can't run from God. There is nowhere in the world that we can go to where God cannot find us.
4-10. Jonah got on the boat, thinking that he had dodged a real bullet. He learned quickly that he couldn't get away so easily. God sent a mighty storm to torment the boat. The sailors on the boat immediately began praying to their gods to save them but to no avail because there is only one God. Jonah, who was sleeping through the whole thing, was awoken by the shipmaster, who told him to get up and pray to his God. On deck they cast lots and the lots fell to Jonah. Can you imagine how angry they would have been that he caused all this? Jonah confessed his sin and it became clear to them that you can't outrun God. 
11-17. Now what? They knew that Jonah was the problem but what could they do with him in the middle of the sea, miles from land? Jonah did probably the most responsible thing that he will do in the whole book. He told them to throw him into the sea. Of course, they said no at first because that would be murder but it quickly became apparent that there was no other option. They cried out to God to save them and then hoisted Jonah overboard. The storm immediately stopped and all the sailors repented and turned to God. Jonah probably thought that he would die and that would be the end of it, but God had other plans. He made a giant fish swallow Jonah.
The prominent lesson in this chapter is that we can't run from God. No matter who you are or how far you run, he will find you. It is better to obey Him and reap the rewards then to run and receive the punishment.
Join me in the next lesson to see what happens next. 

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