Jonah failed to meet his call and disaster followed. Balaam failed to obey God by going on with plans God had told him to avoid. This put both Jonah and Balaam in embarassing situations. It is better to obey God.
The ability to obey presumes, of course, that one has heard from God. God cannot communicate well with us unless God has our attention. For Balaam, it took a talking donkey. For Jonah, a disastrous storm and a large fish.
We are in the middle of a sermon series called Jonah's Vacation. Thanks to my friend Tom for the suggestion of comparing Jonah and Balaam.
Thanks be to God for redeeming love that has restored Jonah, and Balaam, and Tom, and me.
The ability to obey presumes, of course, that one has heard from God. God cannot communicate well with us unless God has our attention. For Balaam, it took a talking donkey. For Jonah, a disastrous storm and a large fish.
We are in the middle of a sermon series called Jonah's Vacation. Thanks to my friend Tom for the suggestion of comparing Jonah and Balaam.
Thanks be to God for redeeming love that has restored Jonah, and Balaam, and Tom, and me.
2 comments:
Life is, at best, transitory.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are events in our lives that we are inexorably tied to. We are constantly being judged by these event. Unfortunately we are not always allowed to clean the slate and get a fresh start. Some may see this as being unfair. I see it as a challenge.
I have almost never shared my early life with anyone. The reason is that I refuse to use yesterday as a crutch. I would rather face rejection for who I am than be accepted because of, who or, what I was.
As for tomorrow,I refuse to quit learning and trying to be obedient to God and myself. If I am to be judged as having a love of int elect, so be it. I wrestle daily, with the talents that God has given me, all the while knowing I will be judged by my actions and how they will reflect on my faith in God.
Being convinced that I have been called to share the word of Jesus has brought me into contact with some of the greatest moments of my life and some suffering. I accept both as being part of life, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Thanks for your reflections, brother!
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