WEDNESDAY'S WORD - OVERBOARD - 01/16/19 Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"You are overboard in deep open water without a PFD (personal flotation device), or at least that is what your instructor is yelling. Sink or swim, plebe."  - David Robinson - Former American Athlete & Naval Officer     OVERBOARD - means from a ship into the water; figuratively it is to be very enthusiastic; or to react in an immoderate way. To throw something or someone overboard means to abandon or discard it or them. All of us have had situations where our response was overboard due to anxiety, disappointment or some other emotion. I was listening to this powerful message MERCY OVER JUDGMENT by Pastor William McDowell. In it, he referenced the familiar story of Jonah, an Israeli prophet whom God instructed to go to a city called Nineveh, which was at that time wicked and he believed should be God-forsaken. Jonah's emotional response was overboard. He did not want to preach repentance to Nineveh because he knew that God would forgive and bless them if they turned from their wickedness. He wanted God to judge them. So instead of going toward his assignment to preach salvation, he went the other way, "Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord..." (Jonah 1:1-3a) Pastor William asked, "Do we choose to withhold the Gospel from people because we want God to judge them while God wants to show them His goodness and mercy?"        Jonah didn't realize that in disobeying God's command, he was not only running away from the Ninevites, but from the LORD's presence as well. He gets on this boat and a storm so powerful arises that the ship and it's passengers are in grave danger. Jonah is asleep in the bottom of the ship. The captain wakes him up saying ""What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish." (vs. 6) The passengers cast lots to see who is the cause of the trouble. They hear that Jonah has been fleeing from the presence of the LORD. He tells them, "Throw me overboard. Then the sea will become calm. I know that I'm responsible for this violent storm."  (vs. 12, GWT) Is it possible that you're on the ship of life with someone whose disobedience has you almost shipwrecked? Is YOUR disobedience  causing trouble or delay in the lives of others? Most of us know that God mercifully provided a way to make Jonah repent - three days in the belly of a great fish. Once the fish spit him out...he was ready to go to Nineveh. What's it going to take for you to obey? Even the fish threw Jonah overboard! Lol!     Unfortunately, Jonah end up reluctantly preaching to Nineveh's citizens. He was still mad at God for offering them His mercy and making him the vehicle. Jonah really wanted the LORD to give them the smack down. He didn't desire the same second chance he was receiving to be extended to them...they were obviously more wicked than he. God had to take Jonah through some more dealings. I'm glad that sometimes God let's us be thrown overboard to save US when we didn't even know we needed to be saved.

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