But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Jonah 1:3

For Meditation

It had never rained on earth and, Noah had no idea about ships. The human population had exploded. With corruption everywhere in a rampaging culture of violence, God revealed His wrath. When God told righteous Noah to build a ship, Noah obeyed. The rains came. God ordered Noah and his family into the ark and shut them in. God saved them from the floods that destroyed everything in the world (Gen. 6:5-7:1-16).

Thousands of years later, a nation became sinful beyond measure. God commissioned a prophet called Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against them. Jonah rebelled. He decided that Nineveh was too wicked to deserve God’s grace. Instead of Nineveh, Jonah boarded a ship headed for Tarshish and sailed away (Jonah 1:1-3). Figuratively, the ship ejected Jonah into the raging sea. A fish swallowed the prophet and carried him to Nineveh.

God protected Noah and his family from the floods in a vessel I call the Ship of Obedience. Jonah also sailed on a boat I call the Ship of Disobedience that could not take him to his destination. Jonah found no protection on it because the hand of God was against it.

The two ships present a question for our interrogation this morning.

On which ship are you traveling in this life? On the Ship of Obedience or the Ship of Disobedience? Have you considered the result of both journeys? How does Noah, the man Peter calls, the preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5) appeal to you? What about Jonah, the renegade prophet? Whose legacy do you want to cultivate?

The answer will depend on who you want and choose to please – God or yourself.

Shalom