Summer At Sea: Week 8 Day 4

Jonah 3:1-4

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

If I am being honest, Jonah’s reluctance is pretty relatable. He has to go into a city that takes three days to get through and tell them they’re all doomed. Who would want to hear that kind of news? I know I’d ignore some random stranger who showed up with bad news I didn’t care for. Look at how Jonah responded to the direction from God that he didn’t like; would a city of wickedness be any better?

Ignoring bad news is something that, most likely, we all have a practice in. We get apocalyptic declarations delivered from all over the world as often as we like to see it. There are entire industries built around delivering warnings and dire predictions, but the difference between those and Jonah’s message was that Jonah got his warning from God.

In Matthew 13, Jesus used a phrase “he who has ears to hear,” which is a way of saying the message is directed at the spiritually attentive people who should understand the significance of His words. I’d like to think I have those ears, but then again, it takes a different kind of practice; not just ignoring the noise, but spending time listening to and learning the truth of God’s Word.

How can you tell if the voice you hear bears the Word of God?