Have you ever met someone who “knew” everything, but couldn’t do anything? There are people like that all over the place, whether it is in church, politics, sports, or whatever. The next couple of days, we are going to look at someone in the Bible who was like that. He was a prophet of God, who had the right theology, but putting his theology into practice escaped him. The prophet’s name was Jonah. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, and to tell the Ninevites about who God was, and to call them to repent. Jonah knew that God loved people, but Jonah didn’t have any love in his heart for the people of Nineveh. Jonah is so against God’s calling, that he actually runs away from God. What’s worse is the fact that Jonah thinks he can actually run away from God! Then, when God corners Jonah on a ship in the middle of a bad storm, Jonah sort of blames God for what is going on. Jonah’s problem is that although he knew the truth, Jonah did the opposite of what he knew he was supposed to do.
Before we are too hard on Jonah, I think we need to look ourselves in the mirror. Can we be honest enough to admit that there are times in our life in which we act like Jonah did? Knowing what the Bible says, and obeying what it teaches are two different things. There are those who think they are ok by simply knowing what the Bible says. However, the Bible says that knowing what the Bible teaches isn’t enough. Remember Jesus’ question in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me Lord, and not do the things that I have commanded you?” The apostle Paul was constantly examining his own life, because he didn’t want to be guilty of saying one thing and doing another. We see it in his words to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 9:27, where Paul says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” In this passage, Paul is talking about making sure to practice what he preached. Paul knew he couldn’t lose the gift of salvation, but he didn’t want to tell people the truth, but not be living the truth himself. James actually takes it a step further when he writes in James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James was saying that if all you do is know the truth, but you don’t obey it, you are deceived if you think you are saved.
Jonah knew the truth, but he didn’t live it. Can the same be said for you or I? If so, in His love, God is pointing it out to us now so that we can confess it and repent of it. There is something worse than going through life believing there is no God. What is worse, is know that there is a God, believing that we are right with Him, when in fact we are still lost and dead in our sin. Is there something that God is trying to talk to you about? Something that you know you need to ask God to remove from your life, so that you can not just know the truth, but that you can be living the truth as well. Ask the Lord to search you and reveal any sin that may be in your life. It may hurt when God removes it from our life, but it is better than going through life believing a lie, and dying before you can turn from it.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin