Righteous Or Religious Jonah?
The more I read about Jonah the more he reminds me of myself. He clearly has a heart for YHWH, yet he is compromised in his obedience to God because of his biases. So often I badly want to be used by God, serving as the conduit of his Spirit, but when an opportunity presents itself to minister the gospel to someone, I back down.
Jonah, I don't believe, is a religious, pharisaical, stubborn person as he is so often portrayed. He's simply compromised by his prejudices. We are all guilty of this, be it racial (as was Jonah), theological (in that we push back from brothers and sisters who don't mirror our views), political (how often I have heard one believer criticize a group of believers because of their political views), or what not.
The heart of the matter is love from a pure heart and a sincere conscience. Are we willing to betray our prejudices in order to obey God? This is a question even for sincere believers.
Created almost 1 year ago
