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Repentance isn't a word we use much on a day to day basis. As Christians, repentance is when someone turns from the bad they are doing to try and live a life worthy of Christ.
If you aren't familliar with the story of Jonah it can be sumed up like this:
1) Jonah has a word from God telling him to go to Nineveh to save the people there.
2) Jonah disobeys God and gets on a ship that heads in a completely different direction to Tarshish.
3) Not long after boarding a boat to Tarshish God sends a big storm, which causes the men on the boat to throw Jonah overboard, only for a big fish to find him and swallow him.
4) Three days and three nights later Jonah repents and God commands the fish to spit Jonah back up.
5) Jonah gets another word from God to go to Nineveh and this time he actually goes.
6) When he gets there Nineveh repents and Jonah is quite upset about this.
And if thats not detailed enough for you feel free to read the book of Jonah here (It's only 4 chapters so it wont take long).
For now we'll concentrate on chapter 2 of Jonah.
This chapter is where we read Jonah's repentance to God. Instead of puting in a link for you to read it here it is:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called to help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers swept over me.
Yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around me head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God, brought me up form the pit.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, 'Salvation come from the Lord.'"
You might think thats a long prayer, but Jonah was in the fish for three days and three nights. This was the last thing Jonah did when he was inside the fish (as in the next verse God commands the fish to vomit Jonah up) and it takes about 30 secends to read!
So one thing we can be absolutely sure of about Jonah's repentance is that it came slow.
The bible doesn't say what else Jonah got up to in the fish but I'm pretty sure he would have been trying to get out without God's help. But that isn't what saved him, prayer and repentance is what saved Jonah.
Jonah's repentance prayer, I've found, is split into three parts:
Part one is Jonah's recognition. This is where Jonah realises what he's done is wrong. This is verses 2-7:
You might think thats a long prayer, but Jonah was in the fish for three days and three nights. This was the last thing Jonah did when he was inside the fish (as in the next verse God commands the fish to vomit Jonah up) and it takes about 30 secends to read!
So one thing we can be absolutely sure of about Jonah's repentance is that it came slow.
The bible doesn't say what else Jonah got up to in the fish but I'm pretty sure he would have been trying to get out without God's help. But that isn't what saved him, prayer and repentance is what saved Jonah.
Jonah's repentance prayer, I've found, is split into three parts:
Part one is Jonah's recognition. This is where Jonah realises what he's done is wrong. This is verses 2-7:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called to help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers swept over me.
Yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around me head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God, brought me up form the pit.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
Next came Jonah's actual repentance in verses 8 - 9:
Next came Jonah's actual repentance in verses 8 - 9:
Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, 'Salvation come from the Lord.'"
And finally came Jonah's redemption in verse 10:
"And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomitied Jonah onto dry land."
Recognition, Repentance and Redemption.
After reading the book of Jonah I've come to realise that Jonah was never actually in any real danger. Not when he was on a boat heading to be shipwrecked, not when he was thrown into the stormy sea, not even when he spent three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish! This is because Jonah was protected by God, and as shown in the book of Jonah, God didn't let Jonah come to any harm.
The only time that Jonah was in any real danger was when Jonah thought he could do things better his own way.
And that is still the same today, for all of us.
Proverbs 3:5 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
You can also find us at all of these other places!
And finally came Jonah's redemption in verse 10:
"And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomitied Jonah onto dry land."
Recognition, Repentance and Redemption.
After reading the book of Jonah I've come to realise that Jonah was never actually in any real danger. Not when he was on a boat heading to be shipwrecked, not when he was thrown into the stormy sea, not even when he spent three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish! This is because Jonah was protected by God, and as shown in the book of Jonah, God didn't let Jonah come to any harm.
The only time that Jonah was in any real danger was when Jonah thought he could do things better his own way.
And that is still the same today, for all of us.
Proverbs 3:5 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
You can also find us at all of these other places!
