Ladies Bible Study Thursday, February 2nd

by | Feb 2, 2012

Jonah 1:5  Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god.  And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.  But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

The men on the ship were scared and throwing their things overboard trying to figure out who had brought the storm into their lives while Jonah was sleeping.  Jonah was being rebellious and sinning against God and the people on the ship were paying the price.  Sin rarely only affects the person sinning.  We may think that it is hidden and that no one knows or no one else will be hurt by our sin but that would be a very rare thing.  These men didn’t even know Jonah and yet they were having to throw their things overboard, paying the price for Jonah’s running from God.

Secret sins are often the most destructive sins and quite often there are more people affected by our sin than we realize.  Marriages are often destroyed by one spouse thinking that they can keep something they struggle with a secret instead of leaning on their spouse for accountability and support.  Churches have been split due to the sins of the leader or leaders of the church.  The Bible is very clear when it says in Numbers 32:23  “and be sure your sin will find you out.”  God will bring to light what is done in the dark or secret.

Do you or someone you know struggle in an area that you know needs to be acknowledged?  I would encourage you to ask God for direction and strength to do what is right.  If you know someone else that is struggling maybe they need to be encouraged vs. condemned, as the body of Christ we need to restore people who are struggling with sin.  That was Jonah’s biggest issue in the book of Jonah; he didn’t want the people of Ninevah to repent and be forgiven he wanted God’s judgment to come down on them and punish them for their sin and he was angry with God for showing grace.  It is amazing how quick we are sometimes to judge others and yet we ourselves want God’s grace.  Ask God today if there’s something in your life or the life of someone you care about that needs to be taken care of and ask Him for the wisdom to handle it right.

Quote:

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.”  Charles Dickens

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