“Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish: I called to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me” (Jonah 2:1-2, HCSB).
You probably have a quiet, peaceful place where you like to go to pray.
Jonah’s place wasn’t quiet or peaceful. He tried to run from God and ended up being thrown overboard from a ship into the ocean and swallowed by a large fish.
“Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (Luke 12:15, NLT).
A man from the crowd of people who constantly gathered around Jesus called out for Him to tell his older brother to divide up the estate of their father so he could receive his inheritance.
Jesus replied that He was not a judge who makes decisions about legal matters.
“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.” (Luke 11:42, HCSB).
Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee to dine with him. Presumably several scribes and Pharisees were also present at the dinner.
“This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen” (Jonah 4:1-3, NLT).
The book of Jonah presents some difficult theological issues, not least of which is represented by Jonah’s memorable complaint to God in these verses. His complaint seems so reprehensible that it’s enough to make you question, “What’s his problem, anyway?”
“When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives” (Deuteronomy 17:18-19, NLT).
Included in the book of Deuteronomy are guidelines that future kings of Israel are admonished to follow.
“However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20, HCSB).
After Jesus had commissioned and sent out the twelve disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God, He sent out seventy other of His disciples. They were to go ahead of Him in pairs to every town where He was about to go and heal the sick and proclaim the Kingdom of God was near.
Becoming a disciple of Jesus must be intentional and strategic. To be a disciple of Jesus, you must be a deliberate disciple.
To be a deliberate disciple you must develop a plan or strategy for spiritual formation and service to God’s Kingdom.
Deliberate discipleship requires a totality of purpose that comes through an abandonment of all other priorities in favor of the Kingdom of God. Thus, the primary characteristic of deliberate discipleship is radical obedience to the teachings of Jesus.
“Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” (Luke 9:23-25, NLT).
If you think this well-known saying of Jesus means you should quit being selfish or even start hating yourself, then you are completely missing the point of this teaching.
“You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own eyes. Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, then Yahweh your God will choose the place to have His name dwell. Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions, and all your choice offerings you vow to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 12:8-11, HCSB).
Beginning in Chapter 12 in Deuteronomy and for about the next 10 chapters, a series of laws and statutes are given by Moses during his second address to the Israelites. In this chapter Moses specifically addresses the chosen place for the Israelites to worship.
“But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died. Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, My child, get up! And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up!” (Luke 8:53-55, NLT).
In Luke 8 Jesus calms a storm, commands a large number of evil spirits to come out of a man, heals a woman who suffered from a bleeding condition for twelve years, and raises a little girl from the dead!
Steve's Bible Meditations 