You know, sometimes as we are handing out meals and chatting, I’ll hear someone say, “Don’t talk like that—you’re in a church.” Now, I do appreciate this. I know it's motivated by a desire to be respectful. And, I understand that some people, when they come into a church, might be on their “best behavior” because of where they are. That’s not a bad thing. I appreciate all of that—not to mention it would be disrespectful to other people to be loud, belligerent, or crude. But does it really matter where you sin? Actually, no. It doesn’t matter one bit. Why? Because God is present everywhere always and because He knows all things. No matter where you are, where you go, or what you do, God sees and knows all. There was a prophet that learned this truth the hard way. His name was Jonah.
Jonah was not your typical prophet. Unlike most of God’s other prophets who preached to His people in Israel, God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, a city in Assyria. The Assyrians were known for their ruthless treatment of enemies—they were absolutely brutal to people, and Jonah hated them. He didn’t think they deserved to hear about God—what if they heard and believed in God? Jonah knew what would happen…because God is so gracious and willing to forgive all who repent of sin, if by some chance these vicious people repented, they would be saved. God would be merciful even to them! Well forget that! Jonah wasn’t about to let that happen. So, instead of heading east to Nineveh as God had told him to do, Jonah went west. What did he think? That God wouldn’t know where he was? That God wouldn’t be able to find him? All-knowing, all-seeing God knew exactly where Jonah was. In fact, because God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), God knew beforehand that Jonah would react like this— God knew he’d run away.
Now, God intended for Jonah to do His work in Nineveh so He caused a huge storm to overtake the ship that Jonah was on. The crew threw Jonah overboard—Jonah told them to do this—he knew the storm was God’s way of getting his attention. I’m sure Jonah expected he’d drown. But, “then the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah” (Jonah 1:17). God still knew exactly where Jonah was even though Jonah was somewhere in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, and now, somehow still alive in the belly of a fish. Miraculously, God caused the fish to throw Jonah up on the shore. Off to Nineveh went Jonah. And the people listened and believed God. They repented and were saved.
God never lost Jonah. He never loses you either. When He promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5), He meant that there is no way He will ever, ever leave one of His followers…not ever. When you give your life to Jesus, you enter into a relationship that is based on a love that is so great that “neither life nor death, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation” can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38—39). What a love! And yet, God’s given us free will. You can choose righteousness or sin…Satan or Jesus...life in Him or death in sin. Though He loves us more than we will ever understand and doesn’t want any to perish, we have the freedom to choose. I pray that you will choose the Lord.