Jonah was a prophet on the run from the Lord. When the command got here to evangelise to Ninevah, he “rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.” Within the port metropolis of Joppa, conveniently, he “discovered a ship going to Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3).
You possibly can think about how a person in Jonah’s sneakers may justify this in his coronary heart: “See? If I’d been purported to go east, there wouldn’t be this ship right here able to take me west. And I’m positive that I’m actually supposed to go on the ship, as a result of in any case, there’s a ship right here, and I need to go on a ship. It’s an open door if there ever was one!”
However an open door isn’t at all times all it’s cracked as much as be. “The gate is huge and the way in which is simple that results in destruction,” stated Jesus, “and those that enter by it are many” (Matt. 7:13). After we’re able to run from the Lord, the satan will make sure you ship a automotive. After we’re itching to fulfill sinful wishes, we’re sure to seek out plentiful temptations.
The surest measure of God’s will shouldn’t be what’s handy; it’s what’s written. We must always by no means undergo an open door to a spot God’s Phrase tells us clearly to not go.
The reality is, after we need to run, we received’t want an excuse. The Lord will converse clearly about some situation in our lives by means of the Bible, by means of our brothers and sisters in Christ, or by means of His mild hand on the conscience. We are going to say, “No. That may’t be proper. It should not imply what it says.” And we’ll run.
The surest measure of God’s will shouldn’t be what’s handy; it’s what’s written.
That is, after all, what Adam and Eve thought they’d do. As quickly as they fouled up, they stated, “Let’s go run and conceal within the bushes.” However God didn’t surrender on them. He requested, “The place are you?” (Gen. 3:9). He knew the place they had been. However He wished them to reply.
Jonah, in his try to get as distant as attainable, was ready to take something to get wherever. However it didn’t turn into so easy. And despite the fact that it might at occasions appear simple for us to run, the entire thing tends to go haywire. We are going to both discover ourselves someplace we hadn’t counted on, or we’ll quickly see that our devoted God is urgent His pursuit. The transportation He later despatched to deliver Jonah again on monitor didn’t have an opulent inside. We’re higher off obeying the primary time.
This text was tailored from the sermon “The Man Who Mentioned No” by Alistair Begg.
