{"id":1364,"date":"2021-09-14T07:51:42","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T12:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2021-09-14T07:51:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T12:51:42","slug":"obey-or-run-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/14\/obey-or-run-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Obey, or Run Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cThy word is<\/em> a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path<\/strong>\u201d
Psalm119:105 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever recognized God speaking to you through His Word?\nDid you understand there was something He wanted you to do? Have you ever\nchosen to do what you want to do instead of following the plan God has for your\nlife? God\u2019s Word is to be a light for your path giving you direction. \u201cThy word is<\/em> a lamp unto my feet, and\na light unto my path<\/strong>\u201d (Psalm119:105).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One cannot help but remember back to a man in the Bible who\nchose to do what he wanted to do over what God wanted him to do. He was told by\nGod to do a job. However, instead of obeying God, he ran the other direction.\nThis man\u2019s name was Jonah. He was a prophet of the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God told Jonah, \u201cArise,\ngo to <\/strong>Nineveh<\/strong>, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up\nbefore me<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 1:2). Instead of obeying God, read what Jonah did.\nHe went, found a ship, bought a ticket, boarded the ship, and went to sleep. No\nproblems! Everything is lovely! He must be in God\u2019s will for everything to have\nworked out so well! However, see what God\u2019s Word tells us: \u201cBut Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish\nfrom the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship\ngoing to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go\nwith them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 1:3). He\nthought he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord \u2013 all because he<\/em><\/strong>\ndid not want to do what God<\/em><\/strong> wanted him to do. One important thing\nto consider: can anyone hide from God? \u201cWhither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy\npresence?<\/strong>\u201d (Psalm 139:7). The following verses (in Psalm 139:8-12)\ndeclare there is no place one can hide from God. Nevertheless, Jonah was so\ncomfortable in his position of flight from God that he went to sleep in the\nbelly of the ship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah was still asleep when a great storm arose that\nterrified even the seasoned mariners that were in charge of the ship. They were\nafraid the ship would be broken. \u201cThen\nthe mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the\nwares that were<\/em> in the ship into the sea, to lighten it<\/em> of them.\nBut Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast\nasleep<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 1:5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah knew the storm had come because of him. Jonah had not\nimplemented what he knew: \u201cThy\nword is<\/em> a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path<\/strong>\u201d\n(Psalm119:105). Jonah was supposed to follow the path God\u2019s Words had given to\nhim. Jonah knew what God had told him to do. Instead, he went the opposite\ndirection, ending up on a ship in the midst of a terrible storm. Jonah told the\nmen to throw him overboard, and the storm would cease. \u201c15. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea\nceased from her raging. 16. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and\noffered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 1:15-16). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God knew what they would do. See what He had already done. \u201cNow the LORD had prepared a great fish to\nswallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three\nnights<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 1:17).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did Jonah do once he was imprisoned in the belly of the\nfish? \u201cThen Jonah prayed unto the\nLORD his God out of the fish’s belly<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 2:1). Jonah understood.\nIt was his fault that he was there. Jonah cried out to God to help him. \u201cWhen my soul fainted within me I remembered\nthe LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple<\/strong>\u201d\n(Jonah 2:7). Jonah recognized his failings, promising to do what he was\nsupposed to do. \u201cBut I will\nsacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that<\/em> that\nI have vowed. Salvation is<\/em> of the LORD<\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 2:9). Once he\nrepented, \u201cAnd the LORD spake unto\nthe fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land<\/em><\/strong>\u201d (Jonah 2:10). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah went to Nineveh. He warned the people. Everyone from the king down repented and turned to God. Because of Jonah\u2019s warning, the whole city was saved. However, Jonah will forever be known as a reluctant prophet who was swallowed by a great fish for disobeying God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you willing to disobey God\u2019s plan for your life, running away ending up ineffectual, until you recognize God and repent?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or will you choose to make God’s Word a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever recognized God speaking to you through His Word? Did you understand there was something He wanted you to do? Have you ever chosen to do what you want to do instead of following the plan God has for your life? God\u2019s Word is to be a light for your path giving you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[161,780,186,496,68,777,778,644,183,482,779,304],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-disobey","tag-fish","tag-god","tag-hide","tag-jonah","tag-lamp","tag-nineveh","tag-pray","tag-prophet","tag-repent","tag-run","tag-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1368,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions\/1368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}