“Now the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and he went down to Joppa” (Jonah 1:1-3)
My mind goes back some forty-eight years, and it seems like I can hear one of my professors, Dr. M.L. Lowe, teaching English Bible, Old Testament. Dr. Lowe emphasized to the students that when anyone starts running from the will of God, it is a downward road. I can still hear Dr. Lowe and the passion in his voice. “He went down to Joppa (1:3a); he went down to the ship (1:3b); he went down into the ship (1:5); before very long he would be going down into the belly of the fish (1:15-17). Dr. Lowe is correct. Running from the will of the Lord never ends well. Do you know anyone who is running from the Lord? May we be wise enough to stop, turn around and honestly say to the Lord, “What would You have me to do, Lord?”
For today: May we be wise and run to the Lord and embrace His will.