“So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, ‘What do you mean, O sleeper? Arise, call upon your God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not’.”
Jonah 1:6
Now is not the time for us to be asleep at our assigned post—for many souls hang precariously in the balances of eternity.
“Why are you sleeping?!?”
That’s the question the shipmaster asked Jonah that day/night when he awakened him during the raging storm. And, it definitely was quite a storm—for we read that “God had sent a mighty wind and mighty tempest in the sea” (v.4). Simply put, it was a “mega-storm,” not just a summer squall that’d soon pass. No, it was “the big one” and the ship’s captain couldn’t believe that Jonah was sleeping through it!
So, he awakened him and asked, “What do you mean, O sleeper?” Or, another way to put it was “What in the world are you doing?!? Don’t you know there’s a storm raging outside and we’re about to break up into pieces?!? Get up and pray to whatever god you serve; we can’t afford to be choosy here, but have to cover all the bases!!”
It’s amazing what desperation will do to a person, isn’t it?
As someone once said, “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” So true, so true.
But, here was Jonah. . .a direct descendant of Father Abraham. . .and a worshiper of the one true-and-living God. . .acting worse than the heathen by trying to “flee from the Presence of the Lord” (v.3). . .and then seemingly being unconcerned that the ship he was on was about to become a submarine.
Such is always the case with a calloused conscience. And, so often, those who are running from God may even appear to be more at peace than those who aren’t.
But, that’s what happens through “the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13).
The ear grows deafer and the heart grows harder (Heb. 3:7-8, 13). The devil’s convinced them that the forbidden fruit is sweet, something to be desired and will prove that there is no God or He didn’t know what He was talking about (Gen. 3:1-5).
But, that’s never the case, is it, Pilgrim?
No, never ever at all.
And, woe to any who think it is.
Sadly, even the rough-and-tumble, salty-tongued sailors resorted to prayer quicker than Jonah did (Jon. 1:5). They even encouraged Jonah to pray and cry out to his God even though they didn’t know Him (1:14). Again, such is always the case in desperation, for a drowning man will always look for anything that floats in his hour of need.
Oh, dear Pilgrim, the hour is late and Judgment Day is coming. We can ill-afford to like “the slothful man who said ‘There’s a lion in the street,’ but did nothing as he turned over in his bed and went back to sleep” (Prov. 26:13). As someone said, “Hell’s too long to be wrong.” May we hear and heed the Spirit’s Voice today to go woo and warn those who are lost.
January 21, 2012
