Scripture: Jonah 1:14-17 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Devotion: We know from earlier in Jonah 1 that the sailors were terrified. After they tried to row back to shore with no luck, they decide to do as Jonah has instructed and throw him into the water. But they are fearful that killing a man who worshipped the God of the terrible storm they were in would lead to their own death. But when they throw him into the sea, it grew calm. Just as Jonah had said it would. And this caused the sailors to fear the Lord.
The fear of the Lord can be a confusing term. For an unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of judgement and eternal death. Prior to these events, this would have been what the sailors experienced as their fear. We know that they prayed to their own gods at the start of the chapter, therefore indicating that they did not worship the one true God. But the fear of the Lord for a believer is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 explains it well when it says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
We can have reverence and fear of the Lord because He is truly holy, just, and righteous. He hates sin and requires judgement for it. But he provided the ultimate sacrifice for us in Jesus and poured out His judgement on Him. He did this because of His great love for us. We do not need to be scared of Him because we know nothing can separate us from His love for us (Romans 8:38-39) and He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Instead, recognizing the Lord’s plan for our redemption through his Son, we can stand in awe of Him and all that He is, just as the sailors did after he calmed the sea.
Reflect:
- What do you think it looks like to fear the Lord?