“But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.  So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”  – Jonah 1:3

In yesterdays devotional we talked about the portion of scripture in Jonah where it says “(Jonah) found a ship which was going to Tarshish.”  We took out of that the dangers of being impulsive and the dangers of saying “God told me this”, “God told me that.”  Today I’d like to take a look at the next piece of this verse which is “Paid the fare”.  Again, the Bible isn’t random, things are put in there for a reason and in this case this one is a small, fragment of a sentence but we can learn a life lesson and a characteristic of God’s personality.

Lets take a second and put ourselves in Jonah’s shoes.  Here he was boarding a boat to escape the holy and mighty God, the God who controls anything and everything.  He boarded the ship and paid the fare, maybe he thought to himself “Hmm, I have to money to pay so maybe God is letting me go to Tarshish.”  How many times in our lives do we go with our circumstances and conjure up some story of how it was God.  Take a look and meditate on the fact that God allowed Jonah to have the money to pay and flee, he allowed the ship to be in on the port that day, he allowed the weather to be good so they can set sail.  I urge you, not to take a look at circumstances and follow them as if they were God.  Don’t forget we have an enemy out there that hides himself as an angel of light.  The Word of God, the Bible, is to be our source of guidance, not something that is put right in front of us, even if it’s good and seems promising.  We should watch ourselves because we can easily make up something in our minds and convince ourselves that God put this person here, this providence there, this opportunity there.  With a deceitful enemy and a heart that can lie to us, it is very easy to conjure up a plan and say it is of the Lord.  Jonah was able to pay the fare wasn’t he?  Watch out, God will let you go your own way, thinking it was Him but he will always bring you back around if you are one of His children.

-Scott

“But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.  So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”  – Jonah 1:3

Let’s face it, there is nothing random in the Bible.  Everything that is said is said for a reason and a purpose.  Every corner, every piece of scripture should be researched and meditated upon regardless of how simple you may think it is.  Now take a look at Jonah 1:3 which is quoted above. Notice the piece I have extracted.  You may think to yourself, “well Ok, found a ship going to Tarshish, what’s the big deal?”    Before I get into it I will give you a little backdrop on the story for those who are unfamiliar with it.  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it because their wickedness had come before God.  Jonah didn’t want to go because he knew who the Ninevites were.  He also knew that God wanted to bring them to judgment.   Instead of doing what the Lord commanded him, Jonah foolishly fled God and boarded a ship to Tarshish which was ultimately the farthest west he could go, thinking he could escape God.  He boards a ship and the ship sets sail to Tarshish.

Jonah made an impulsive decision which was to flee God and to try and escape his presence.  Here are a couple of points on things we should take from this impulsive mindset:  An impulse can be a very courageous thing to do but in the end it could still yet be wrong.   Jonah sought out to go on a long sea journey, he was impulsive and brave but in the end it was wrong;  An impulse may appear to be selfish or self denying but yet it can still be wrong;  An impulse can be something you condemn in others but did it yourself.  What would Jonah have said to a prophet that came to Him and said “The Lord is telling me to go here but I don’t want to so I am going to be here”.  I doubt that Jonah would tell him to flee the Lord and not obey Him;  An impulse may point out that your free in Christ but yet it could be wrong because wasn’t Jonah free to flee and aboard a ship to Tarshish?  Lastly, an impulse can hurt God or others, we can do something to them we would have never have wanted done to ourselves.  This is a basic biblical principle, selfishness.

Beloved, do not fall into inner impulses and come out saying “God told me to do this”, “God told me to do that”.  This is so dangerous in my eyes and other believers’ eyes, it even can be dangerous when it’s not an impulse.  Say you thought for a long time that God was telling you something inside, this can still be proven to be dangerous.  Do not be the ones who are foolishly taken away and feel things are confirmed by every word, inclination, impulse, confirmation  and feeling.  You should form your feelings, thoughts, desires and decisions around the Law, the bible, and Gods moral Will for your life.  This can be done by reading your bible and letting God’s word sanctify your mind and heart.

-Scott