Read My Lips
Some may remember when President George H.W. Bush, Sr. was lambasted for a campaign promise during the 1988 Republican National Convention bid for the presidential nomination. What was the now infamous promise? Read my lips. No new taxes. The Democrats never let him forget that one. In the book of Jonah we discover that History repeats itself.
Jonah 1:9, 14-16 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the Lord, the God of heaven, Who made the sea and the dry land.…Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship to the land, but they could not, for the sea became more and more violent against them.14 Therefore they cried to the Lord, We beseech You, O Lord, we beseech You, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.15 So they took up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.16 Then the men [reverently and worshipfully] feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
What’s wrong with this picture? Jonah states he reverently fears and worships the Lord – while running from Him in disobedience. The pagan, unbelievers fear God, pray, and quickly obey God. Amos 5:23-24 shines light on the contradiction: Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not listen to the melody of your harps.24 But let justice run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream. Interestingly enough, Amos lived during Jonah’s life time. What else did Amos say? 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light;…20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light? Even very dark with no brightness in it? While Amos is preaching to Israel, Jonah is longing for the Day of the Lord to destroy the people of Nineveh. Can you see the wickedness in this? As I write this there are those in the Body of Christ longing for the rapture to come in September 2025. Why is that a problem? There are approximately over 3 billion people who have never heard the Gospel and we’re wanting to get raptured?
In Jonah 1:9,14–16 – Jonah chose to give lip service to God rather than truly fearing, and worshipping God ~ as compared to the pagan sailors who truly feared, reverenced, and worshipped God through obedience. Why do we need to seek God? Why do we need repentance? Years ago a pastor remarked that he was evangelistic yet didn’t think we needed missions because the American Church had done such a spectacular job of reaching the nations. Can you see the contradiction? I’m evangelistic but I don’t believe in evangelizing the nations? Keith Green wrote a song years ago titled, Asleep In the Light. It was poignant then and even more so now. Soak this in as you seek the Lord with repentance: Do you see? Do you see? All the people sinking down? Don’t you care? Don’t you care? Are you gonna let them drown? How can you be so numb? Not to care if they come, You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done, “Oh, bless me, Lord, bless me, Lord”, You know, it’s all I ever hear, No one aches, no one hurts, No one even sheds one tear, But, He cries, He weeps, He bleeds, And He cares for your needs, And you just lay back and keep soaking it in, Oh, can’t you see it’s such sin? ‘Cause He brings people to your door, And you turn them away, As you smile and say, “God bless you, be at peace”, And all Heaven just weeps, ‘Cause Jesus came to your door, You’ve left Him out on the streets, Open up, open up, And give yourself away, You see the need, you hear the cries, So how can you delay? God’s calling and you’re the one, But like Jonah, you run, He’s told you to speak but you keep holding it in….
