Pursuit of the inactive

Lessons come at us left and right from Jonah chapter 1.
Slowly reading the Bible allows us to linger over each thought and have a conversation with God where the biblical text intersects our life.

A few of the lessons from Jonah 1 follow.
1. Jonah disobeys God and runs the other way. Where are you currently running from God in your life?

2. Jonah falls asleep. The captain shakes Jonah to wake up. He calls out, "Wake up and call on your God, we are dying!" In what ways does God need to shake you and wake you?

3. Jonah's remedy for his disobedience is for him to be tossed overboard. What ever happened to the first logical choice? Jonah, first pray, confess and repent because you're being disobedient! When we are facing problems, do we first go to God? I know for many of us we struggle with this and instead of turning to God right away we first turn to friends "to talk" or chunky monkey ice cream. Or maybe you're the type that just sweeps it underneath the rug, and continues to distance yourself from God, acting as if there's no real problem. The lesson here, turn to God first, rather then leaving God as the last resort when nothing else works. How are you doing with this lesson?

Finally, if we think on a larger scale about Jonah 1, we see three main characters. God, the sailors, and Jonah. God and the sailors are both very active in chapter 1. Jonah however is inactive and sleeping, both physically and in his relationship with the Lord. Here is one sentence tying up Jonah 1. God pursues the inactive Christian.

Where are you at with God today? Are you sleeping on your relationship with God like Jonah did? Are you pressing the snooze button on God? Are you actively running from God? Are you apathetic and not carving out time for God as the number one priority in your life? Take comfort today, because although we all struggle with pursuing God, God is still pursuing you.