Devotional on Jonah (Marsela)

Devotional on Jonah

 By Marsela

In the book of Jonah lie two dearly held verses of mine. One is a favorite, frequenting many of my prayers. The other is a fear, cited in even more of those prayers. In this post, I will focus on the verse I fear.

“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3)

We know that Jonah’s travel to Tarshish was an act of disobedience to the word of the LORD. God had told him to go to Nineveh to call out against their evil, yet Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish. Jonah did not speak out in defiance against the Lord, so it was not with his words that he disobeyed. Yet his feet took him to Joppa, his boat fare took him to Tarshish, and his heart took him away from the presence of the LORD.

Twice it says in verse three that Jonah went “away from the presence of the LORD.” First, when he heard a command from God that he did not want to obey. Second, when he got on the boat for Tarshish. Sin always begins in our heart, yet it bears fruit in our actions.

Here we see sin doing what sin always does; it separates us from the presence of God. In the Garden, God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Yet both Adam and Eve ate fruit from that tree and did not die. Why? Because sin leads to spiritual death. What is spiritual death? Separation from the presence of God.

After Adam and Eve sinned, what did they do? They immediately “hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God” (Genesis 3:8). God called out to them and clothed them with animal skin, a permanent covering for their nakedness that He made by sacrificing an animal – the first physical death in His creation. Then, Adam and Eve are sent out from the garden – the place God had given them so that they could be in His presence.

Years later, there was another death. This time, God Himself was the sacrifice. Jesus, the Son of God, suffered a physical death and a spiritual death. On the cross, he received the entire punishment of God for our sins and was separated from the presence of his Father. After three days of physical death, Jesus came back to life and lives today to bring us back into the presence of God. Through believing in Jesus, we receive eternal life, which the Bible tells us is not just living forever but knowing God and being in the presence of God forever (John 17:3).

So, why do I fear this verse? Let me say that I do not fear this verse because I fear being separated from the presence of God eternally. That is never a fear for the believer in Jesus! Jesus was separated from God so that we would never again have to be separated from Him because of our sin. Yet, even though Jesus has saved me from the punishment of sin, I can still be influenced by the power of sin.

What is the power of sin? Sin hardens our heart to the presence of God so that we do not know Him, love Him, and obey Him as we were created to do. When I act on the desires of my flesh, I deny my heart satisfaction in God. When I look to others to fill an emotional need, I deny my heart provision from God. When I pay regard to vain idols, I deny myself the steadfast love of God (Jonah 2:8).

 

This verse has changed the way that I fight sin. Instead of asking myself, “Is it right or wrong for me to do __________?” I ask myself, “Will doing ___________ increase my heart’s knowledge of, love for, and obedience to God?” If the answer is no, it’s not worth doing. It’s not worth my heart and it’s not worth the presence of God. Now that God has called out to me, covered me with the righteousness of Christ, and brought me back into His presence forever, why would I willingly choose to walk in sin again?

O Lord, protect my heart from ever knowing, loving, and obeying sin more than You. Train my heart to always love you, always choose you, always seek you, always treasure you, always trust you, always be with you.