DEVOTIONAL
How tragic it is Christian, when we allow the temptations and the enticements of this world to mesmerize our fleshly desires in such a way that our voices become silenced, silenced to God’s eternal judgement. In these moments it is as if we are led away to a holding cell, that is, a place in our mind where we can only see our wants and desires. It is then we become blinded to the reality that God will one day judge the world according to His perfect righteousness, and that His anger burns against the unrighteous, those who trample under their feet His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Oh Christian, if your mouth ever becomes silenced for any reason, may the Lord hurl a mighty tempest in your pathway. May he lose your tongue and force you to speak as Jeremiah, crying, “But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name, then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am tired of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.” May conviction in your heart become so inflamed when you think about the groans and shrieks of those who have been cast into utter darkness, that you will begin to plead with all, “Look unto Christ, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for He is God, and there is none else.”
Jonah was a man who had an intimate relationship with the Lord. He was called into the prophetic office in which he would speak to the people on behalf of God himself. He had seen the hand of the Lord move upon his nation in securing its borders. During this time there was no threat of persecution, so the Lord spoke to Jonah saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” The Lord had looked down upon the wicked nation of Assyria with compassion. But Jonah became very angry with the Lord, not wanting God to have mercy upon them. So he fled to Joppa and found a ship which was going to Tarshish. Then he paid the fare and went into the bow of the boat and there he fell asleep. The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea with such power that everyone on the deck was fearing for their lives. So, they began to cry to pagan gods for help. As the storm was growing worse the captain approached Jonah and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your God. Perhaps your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
Remember saints of God, scripture has been placed before us so that we may learn from the sins of the past, so that we do not repeat them in the future. Awake, O sleeper! Rise up from your slumber! Let not the wicked remind you to pray for them and to seek help for them. Open up your mouth and speak forth the oracles of heaven, cry aloud, “Repent, Repent! For a day has been set when the Son of God will consume the wicked by the breath of His word.” Keep before the eyes of your heart the bloody cross, the iron that pinned Him to the tree, the thorny crown that pierced His head, the anguish upon His face, the gasping in His voice as blood filled His lungs, and never forget that it was those great drops of blood that paid the penalty for your sins. Oh Lord, let not our mouths be silenced any longer, lest all of our work here be done in vain.