“Then
the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a
sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.” – Jonah 1:16
God asked Jonah to go
to the city of Ninevah and cry out against it. Instead of going to the city of
Ninevah, Jonah got into a ship which goes to Tarshish. Jonah decided to ran
away from the presence of God.
As the ship was on its
journey, a huge storm created a mighty tempest on sea and the ship was about to
be broken up. Everyone in the ship was so afraid and they might have thought
that they will lose their life on that day.
As they found out that
the trouble had come upon them because of Jonah, they asked him what they have
to do to him. Jonah told them to cast him away into the sea. But they could not
do that and so they tried their best to get back the control of the ship so
that they can return to the nearby land.
Their effort was in
vain and so they threw him into the sea. Before throwing him into the sea they
prayed asking God to forgive them because they feared that if they kill a
innocent blood they will get curse.
One side they were
afraid of their lives and on the other side they were afraid that curse might
come upon them if they threw Jonah into the sea. But as they threw him into the
sea with fears and so many thoughts, they found that the sea immediately ceased
from its raging.
Their problem was over.
They all were mariners and they knew that they can continue their journey in
peace as there was no storm and no hard waves. They could have easily
concentrated on their other works. But what they did was so amazing.
Bible says that they
offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. Even though their problem got
over, they had never forgotten to offer thanksgiving to God.
There were times we
face so many troubles and we cry to God for help. God has heard our prayers and
He helped us to come out of those troubles. What we do after that? We think
that God has done His duty and we move on with other things. Have you ever
stopped after God has done a miracle in your life and offered the sacrifice of
thanksgiving? We should thank God for what He has done in our lives. We should
never forget what He has done to us and for us.
The next part
surprised me a lot. They offered sacrifice. That’s good but Bible continues to
say that they took vows.
God spoke to me
through that verse and asked whether I took vows after God has done a miracle.
To my knowledge I had never done that. But yesterday God spoke to me saying
that it’s important to take vows even after receiving a blessing from God.
In 1 Samuel 1:11, we
read that Hannah made a vow to God as she was seeking a blessing of having a
child. She made a vow as she put her petition to God. We have done that so many
times. But it’s different from what the mariners did. They vowed after they
received a blessing. They vowed when their life was in full of peace.
My dear young friends,
Let us learn to offer thanksgiving to God and let us take vow even after receiving
a blessing from God. If you do this, God will be greatly happy for you and He
will bless you much more.
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