Summer At Sea: Week 7 Day 5

Jonah 1: 11-12

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

To lay down your life for someone is the ultimate sacrifice. To sacrifice your life for a stranger is an extraordinary act. 

During the storm that Jonah and the other Gentiles endured, it became evident to all of them that they were in this predicament because of Jonah’s unfaithfulness to God. Jonah took ownership of this and even decided to sacrifice himself to save strangers. He tells the other men on the boat to throw him overboard to help calm the storm. 

I believe this verse teaches us that it is important to take ownership of our actions. I don’t think it means that we are all called to make the same sacrifice that Jonah did, but we are all called to take ownership. As humans, we are not perfect, of course, but we can identify times when we are unfaithful, repent, and step in the opposite direction toward faithfulness. It is never too late to make that decision to follow Jesus.