Monday Devo

Jonah 1:4-9
4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

1:4–16 Jonah and the Pagan Sailors. This episode highlights Jonah’s encounter with pagan sailors and raises the question, Who fears the Lord—Jonah or the pagans? The key repeated word is “fear”: at the beginning and end the sailors “fear” (vv. 5, 16); in the middle Jonah claims to “fear” the Lord (v. 9) while the sailors actually fear (v. 10a).

Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1687.


1:9–10 Hebrew is an ethnic term used to identify Israelites in international contexts (e.g., Gen. 40:15; Ex. 1:19; 1 Sam. 4:6). Jonah claims to fear the LORD, but his actions contradict his confession. God of heaven refers to the universal and supreme God (see Ezra 1:2; Neh. 2:20; Dan. 2:37). made the sea. Ironically, Jonah confesses to fear the God who controls the sea, which Jonah is crossing to escape from the presence of God (Jonah 1:3). The sailors who were “afraid” (v. 5) are now exceedingly afraid.

Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1688.

Brandon reminded us that Jonah’s story is meant to function like a mirror. Jonah claimed to fear God, worship God, and belong to God, yet the direction of his life was moving away from God. His words sounded like some that is filled with faith, but his actions proved otherwise.

Take an honest moment to reflect:

• If you set aside your words and looked only at the evidence of your life: your schedule, your habits, your secret priorities, etc. where is the current direction of your life actually leading you?
• Where is the widest gap in your life right now between the person you say you are and the person you actually are when no one is watching?
• What is your Nineveh? A hard conversation you’re dodging, a person you’re refusing to forgive, or a clear step of obedience you’ve put off, simply because your own comfort has become more important than God's command?

4. Can a person be good enough to go to heaven? No. Because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He is God, I believe a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)