One of the shortest books in the whole Bible, is the Old Testament book of Jonah. Four little chapters, an easy read in 5 minutes. It tells of the story of the prophet Jonah, who was tasked by God to go preach God’s message of destruction to the evil city of Nineveh, a city so large, it would eventually take Jonah 3 days just to walk from one end of the city to the other. Jonah didn’t want to go. He feared for his life, and in the true prophetic reality, he knew a compassionate God would relent and prevent Ninevah’s destruction if they repented, which would destroy his reputation of his prophesies coming true. So, Jonah ran away from God, or so he thought. Escaping on a boat, he hid and slept in the bowels of the ship while a storm threatened the safety of the crew, cargo, and ship itself. After casting lots, which pointed to Jonah, the sailors eventually threw Jonah over the edge into the sea. God had prepared a great fish (we really don’t know if it was or was not a whale) which swallowed Jonah. He spent three days, with seaweed wrapped around his head, repenting to God for his actions. After the three days, the great fish upchucked Jonah onto dry land and Jonah went to Ninevah and did what God had commanded. Ninevah, all the way up to the king, dressing in sackcloth and sitting in ashes, humbled themselves in repentance and submission to God. There is more to the story, but this part of the story is what we want to focus on in our blog today, and draw some comparisons to our daily lives.
As we pointed out in our blog on September 29, 2024, titled, “NOTICE TO CHRISTIANS – Your Silence is Consent”, Christians have a unique opportunity to direct the course of this Nation, since “WE THE PEOPLE”, act as “kings” within our Nation. We do this with our votes. We also do this with our words and actions. If we deny our responsibilities within our Nation, we in effect are running away from our God. We don’t want to suffer the consequences of what evil might do to us. And just maybe, a small part of us would have to agree that with God anything is possible, and those who are against us just might repent and submit to God, if only we would speak His Will as we walk through our cities and communities.
It is time to do the Will of God. We must speak and act within our Nation with the responsibility He has given us and vote to change the course of our great Nation. Do not hide in the depths of our homes, ignoring the storms raging around us. Do not allow others to perish because of our inactions. God may not prepare a great fish to bring us back to our senses, and the story of Jonah serves as our own warning today. If you cherish your FREEDOM and LIBERTY, then use your freedom of speech, and act with the conviction and boldness granted to you by God. Remember that God uses imperfect people to carry out His perfect Will. Who is to say that you are not that one person to swing the course of this Nation back into the Will of God?