Jonah 1:10 - 16, "then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. v.11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. v. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. v.13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they wcould not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. v.14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee, let us not persih for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for Thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee. v. 15 So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. v. 16 Then the men feared the LOrd exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows."
There are several notable things in this small passage of which I would like to address. These are factors that are in our personal lives, and within our family life. The church is not removed from this truth either. As we conditions in our present estate today, we see many of these same parallels unfolding. May we learn from this, make the needed correction of attitude and serve the Lord correctly. Oh, brethren how much this has costs us all ready. Let us begin:
The beginning question: 'Why hast thou done this?' One of the many questions in the Bible. Questions to make us stop and think and answer about our current witness and living conditions with God and man. what had Jonah done? He had been told to go to Nineveh and preach. What did he do? He went in the opposite way and disobeyed the Word of God. Now these sailors are in the midst of a storm that seems to them to sink them. Their lives are in jeopardy. Do you see the hand of a merciful God? He could have just sunk them, but He allows for them to remain in order taht this Gospel truth might be presented to all the world. AS they are in distress they ask the right questions, 'who are you? where are you from? and 'Why did you do this?' The question of God's chidlren disobeying should always be, 'why did you do this?' And the worst answer is, 'I don't know.'
Jonah knows exactly why. There is no mystery here; God told him to go east, he went west. He went in complete disobedience. And when such definance is chosen and enacted, God will make them answer for it. Gratefully, He made him answer on earth instead of taking his life and making him give an account in front of throne in eternity. Do you know your sin? are you living in disobedience? Does the Holy Spirit convict you of sin present that needs to be dealt with? Why dely? Confess, repent and allow for God's joy to be restored. Oh, how long we hold on to sin and sorrow because of refusing to let sin go. 'Why do we do this?' Why do Christians willingly chose to sin? It is has costs us much. Too much and we should learn this lesson before the punishment gets worse.
Men chose to sin because of many factors. Our flesh fails us and we openly sin. Love of self, love of this world, love of sin causes us to embrace sin instead of fleeing from it. Our lose concept of God and His holiness and fear causes us to chose sin. We don't consider the high costs of sin in the sight of God and we lose care of whether we are holy or not. Satan comes and leads us to sin. Ever the one to be crafty and deceptive, he has lured many a saint away from God.
Jonah's sin for disobeying was pride. He hated these people. He was in love with his own kind and did not want them to be spared. We read his response to God; 'I knwo that you were merciful and full of lovingkindness' and that you would spare them if they repented. but I did not want them to repent.' Hate of your fellows man is reason to withhold the Gospel from them. Our attitude almost says, 'I hope they get what is coming to them.' Instead of loving all of God's people, we pick and choose who we want to be with us. When pride and bias fill a heart, there is no room for a loving God Who desires for none to perish. These two things cannot exist inthe same place. Just as light and darkness cannot exists in the same room. Sin adn holiness cannot exists within the same place; righteosuness and unrightesouness cannot do it. 'choose you this day Whom you will serve?'
When the sailors ask 'Why' he did it. Jonah is very honest about it. He speaks the truth of the matter to them. He is unashamed of what his actions has caused. They are in a life threatening moment because of his choice to sin. Dear reader, hear me on this. Your sin is a life threatening situation for yourself and those that you loe. do we not understand that when God's hand goes out to slay the unrighteous, wicked, disobedient servant that many innocents die as well. You talk about a selfish person. To not care that you sinned or what it may costs you and those around you is one of the greatest follies. 'I chose my sin, and I don't care.' You are almost asking for God to strike you right there where you stand.
You may say that many don't say that or think that. But their actions reveal this heart within them. They continue in sin, even though they know it to be wicked.
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