Scripture: Jonah 1:6-9 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.”
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. 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?”
He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Devotion: If you are someone who struggles to get a good night of sleep, you may have been envious of Jonah sleeping in the bottom of a boat during a terrible storm. But that is not the primary point that will be looking at today. Instead, let’s take a look and reflect on what Jonah says in response to the sailors, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9).
He answers that the God he worships is the very God of the sea, which I am sure explained a lot to the sailors. But the more important point for us to reflect on here is when Jonah says that he worships the Lord. Some translations say that he fears the Lord. According to Dr. Jay Sklar, this can mean “to worship the Lord as one’s God” or, more specifically, “to show proper reverence to the Lord through obedience.” This is a bit ironic because Jonah was certainly not showing reverence through obedience by being on a boat headed in the opposite direction of where God told him to go.
And yet, he recognized God as Lord over his life. Perhaps this was the reminder he himself needed. He needed to resubmit himself to the will of God and recognize Him as sovereign over all.
We can fall victim to this as well. We can claim that God is Lord over our own lives while we are living in disobedience. This doesn’t mean we don’t know Him or trust Him, but maybe it means that we need the reminder that He is in control. He is good, gracious, loving, and trustworthy. And therefore, to follow Him is our greatest calling and privilege. May this be the reminder that we all need that we can show great reverence for God by submitting to Him and worshipping Him as the one true God.
Reflect:
- Are there areas of your life that you need to give control of to God? Remind yourself that he is all good, loving, gracious, just, and trustworthy. You can give everything to Him.