The Biblical story of Jonah can be read to fit almost any of
these preconceived notions about our choices.
Jonah was to be sent to Nineveh to preach an upcoming disaster that
would destroy the city for its sins. He
was to call for repentance. But Jonah
first thinking his choices were his own, boarded a ship heading as far away
from Nineveh as he could get. He did
this because he believed his preaching would be a useless gesture that might
actually get him killed in the process.
So from his point of view running seemed right. But as soon as the storm started he knew what
was wrong, and he knew he was at fault.
I am not certain if Jonah elected to have himself thrown
into the sea for altruistic purposes of saving the otherwise innocent sailors
from God’s wrath. They had to have been
relatively good guys in general, as they were quite reluctant to do this
act. Or perhaps Jonah figured better to
die at sea than as a result of useless preaching. No matter, into the sea he went (the storm
immediately ceased – imagine the amazement of the sailors). But God was not done with Jonah yet. God sent him a “great fish” who swallowed
Jonah whole. This represented a second
chance. Jonah had blown his first
opportunity but it was not over for him right then. You see, more important than Jonah, were the
lives of all those citizens of Nineveh who desperately needed to hear the word
of God.
After 3 days, Jonah gets spit up on dry land, and decides it
is time to head to Nineveh. He preaches
the commensurate 30 days. He calls for
repentance to the evil heathen citizens who live in the city. But must have taken little note of their
responses. He sits himself up on a
mountain overlooking the city on day 31 waiting for the fire to rain down on it
like Sodom and Gomorrah of old, but nothing happens. And Jonah gets mad at God. Why aren’t You burning this city? You are making me look bad, or crazy, or
worse. What Jonah fails to realize is
that this is God giving Nineveh a second chance, as they did repent. Souls were saved by the word of God through
Jonah. And Jonah missed it completely.
So did Jonah’s choices influence the future, or was the
future preordained? Incidentally some
time later Nineveh went back to its old practices of evil and was destroyed for
it as Jonah had warned. Since this
happened eventually anyway, did anything Jonah did make a difference? Did it matter at all? What if you were a resident of Nineveh, going
about your daily routine unaware it was so awfully evil. Then out of nowhere a prophet shows up and
reveals truth to your soul regarding your lifestyle. You decide to change. What’s more you move out of Nineveh in search
of the truth of this God who sent you His word.
Who knows how many people may have fit this category. For them, Jonah made a world of
difference. For them salvation was
begun.
The Lord promised blessings to Israel for their faithfulness
and He warned of curses that would follow the acts of the false religions that
surrounded them. Israel saw both
promises fulfilled in vivid detail. At
times when following the word of the Lord, they were the wealthiest and most
blessed nation on the earth. At other
times when straying into foreign worship, and sacrificing their own children to
idols on altars of blood, they experienced catastrophe on a national
scale. Did their actions matter? Did their choices matter? Did they not reasonable assure the outcomes
they were foretold about based on who they as a nation served?
Those that believe that nothing matters and no decision has
meaning subscribe to a philosophy designed by evil. Evil knows the truth. Evil knows it is destined for ultimate
destruction followed by eternal sleep or nonexistence. And evil works harder and harder every day as
it draws nearer the time of its own doom.
Why? It cannot change its
fate. But it can influence others to
join in it. It can deceive and draw away
from God the children He would otherwise save.
It can cause them to believe that they are free to sin however they
like, as God must understand, or even be responsible since He gave them the
choice to make on their own. Evil works
hard to increase the pain that will accompany its own demise. That is all it has left. But each action matters desperately to the
father of lies. He knows his time will
someday come to an end, and he really wants you there with him when it does.
God could have abandoned mankind to our choice in the garden
to leave Him. He could have justifiably
left us to our fate. We earned our
destruction as when He warned our parents … “do not touch it, lest you
die.” They did die. And death has entered the Universe from that
point forward. Technically, legally, we
deserve this fate; but strangely God did not let us go that easily. Love is greater than justice. And Love gave us all a second chance for
reunion with Him. Love did all the work
required for it. Love made every
sacrifice that would be needed. All Love
needs is our free-will acceptance. And
as we submit to the idea that we cannot earn our redemption, we are made clean,
we are renewed, recreated, and born again of a wholly different Spirit.
God knows the outcome of our choices. But he does not leave us to make the wrong
ones without opportunity after opportunity to be redeemed. It takes work to join the evil one. Not because Satan would have you earn your
way into his kingdom, he would gladly welcome you free of any labor. No, the work comes from having to steadily
reject the love of God, again and again and again. You have to be consistent in rejecting His
offer. You have to steadfastly hold on
to serving yourself and making yourself number one. You must reinforce your pride, reject
humility, and serve only yourself. You
must embrace an empty existence devoid of any meaning or consequence. It is a hard path to avoid love, reject love,
and finally die in the effort. God will
make you work for it.
But while God fights to redeem you with His entire arsenal
of Love. Satan works almost as hard at
deceiving you, keeping you too busy to pay attention. He preoccupies your mind with guilt over your
deeds and hunger for what you do not have.
Satan works to nullify God’s efforts until you don’t see love anymore. Satan fights to make it easy to join his
ranks, while telling you all the time that you serve only yourself, not
him. Satan wants you to believe that You
control your own destiny by every choice you make. You need not serve any supernatural being. You control it all. You run your own life with no outside
influences. He knows the truth of
this. He knows that when you believe you
need nothing, you ignore God, and default yourself to the prince of lies and
the darkness he wishes to surround you with.
When serving self, you are serving evil, it is just this simple.
But as Love was greater than justice, Love is also greater
than evil. Love will make your pathetic
vision clear enough, for long enough to make a free-will choice to embrace it
or not. And Love rejects no-one who
would embrace it. It does not matter who
you are, or what you have done, or what you are doing – Love wants to make it
all better. Love will change you from
the inside out. Love can change what it
is you want, what it is you think you need.
Love can make the pain go away.
Love can heal. Love can renew. All you need do is accept, and submit your
will to the source of all Love. Let go
of “control” and embrace the “gift” of Salvation.
Those who allow their choices to be guided by Christ, who is
the source of all Love, do not just idly occupy space on this planet. Their decisions and their actions have
greater meaning than they realize. They
touch people they do not see. As Jonah
was blind to the success he had in Nineveh, sometimes we fail to see the longer
range consequences of serving our Lord.
You have no idea what your words may mean to someone in need long after
you have departed company with them. You
have no idea the impact the Spirit can make on the willing mind and tongue
until you allow Him to do so. Decisions
submitted to Christ, are decisions made to fight evil every step of the
way. It is not half as much about
changing ultimate outcomes as it is about, saving people along the way. May all our choices be made in submission to
the greater will of Christ our Savior is my prayer ...
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