Seeds for 07/30/2024 - Repent - Jonah 2:1-9
In this series on prayer and scripture, we are following the acronym P.R.A.Y. as a guide for prayer. We are considering scriptures throughout the Bible on each theme. My prayer is that studying scriptures on these themes will give us biblical words to use as our own and simple insights for our praying.
Scripture:
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry…7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
Observation:
If you know much at all about Jonah, you probably know he needed to repent. He had received and rejected the calling of God to preach to Israel’s enemy the Ninevites. Having fled via ship across the Mediterranean Sea, he was discovered during a storm and thrown overboard. But “the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah,” from where he repented. Here are some observations from Jonah’s repentance.
First, Jonah called out to God in his distress. Should we call out sooner? Definitely. But if we didn’t that should not prevent us from doing so once we get to the place of distress. Just call out. God will answer.
Second, Jonah says, “when my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord.” If our minds have been off of the Lord, occupied by our worries or our sin or whatever it may be, we may sense that life is ebbing away—the good, true, abundant life, the godly life. In that moment, remember the Lord. Like the above observation, we can always turn to Him.
Third, Jonah’s repentant spirit gives him clarity about the consequences of turning away from God to pursue other things: “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” The impact of clinging “to worthless idols” is less about the idols and more about having turned way “from God’s love for them.” God’s call is an expression of His love. Jonah received it as threatening him harm, and he ran. But running away was not running from danger but running from love.
Application:
Consider a time you felt distressed. Was it hard or easy to call out to God? What made it hard or easy?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, so impress your deep love upon my heart, that I may remember and call out no matter what circumstance or state I find myself in. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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