Morning Mercies: Start Your Day with Scripture

TUESDAY, 25 JUNE 2024

TEXT: Jonah 1:1-17

1: The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:

2: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3: But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

4: Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

5: All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

6: The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

7: Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

8: So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9: He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10: This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

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.”

13: Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.

14: Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”

15: Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

16: At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

17: Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

(New International Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: WE ARE TOOLS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD

Jonah was instructed to proceed to Nineveh and preach the message of God but he thought they did not deserve it because he knew that God is compassionate and forgives the wicked sinner who dares to repent and seek His face, Jonah disobeyed God.

He chose to go in the opposite direction by sailing towards Tarshish to escape from God. But he forgot that the God of Israel is everywhere and that no human being can escape from His presence.

The purpose of the great wind was to isolate Jonah and demonstrate to him that God must use him to accomplish His purpose for Nineveh.

There are still people like Jonah today who feel that they know more and better than God. But God will always use anyone He chooses to accomplish His purpose and nothing can stop that from happening.

QUESTION: What type of tool are you and in whose hand?

PRAYER: Teach and empower me, dear Lord, never to resist You in whatever way You have planned to use me, in Jesus name. Amen.