Courage: Jonah or Joshua?

This year’s theme at Bear Valley is “Thinking Souls”. I got to thinking about what it means to think souls. I concluded that if we’re really concerned with the well-being of people’s souls then we will want to go out and try and save their soul. For most of us, talking to someone about their soul, is a scary prospect. There are a number of reasons, and they’re all differ from person to person. Maybe you’re scared because:

1)      You’re afraid of being rejected

2)      You’re a naturally shy person

3)      You don’t feel that you know enough

These are only a few of the reasons, but one thing I noticed with all of these is that they all boil down into the core problem of...a lack of courage. In this blog post this week I’d like to take a look at two contrasting sides of courage. The first is Jonah. In Jonah 1.1-3 we see that:

^“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.” (Jonah 1.1-3, ESV)

The LORD spoke to Jonah telling him what to do and what did Jonah do? For those of us that have read this account we know that he fled. Ultimately he did go and teach but his initial reacting was to flee. Let’s now look at Joshua. In Joshua 1.1-2 says:

^“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.” (Josh. 1.1-2, ESV)

I only posted a portion of the verse here but from verses 1 all the way through 9 we see the LORD commanding Joshua what was to happen and what he was to do. Joshua’s, unlike Jonah’s, initial reaction was not to flee but rather to:

 ^“And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, 'Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.” (Josh. 1.10, ESV)

Joshua went and “commanded” or told the officers what the LORD had just told him. He had trust in the LORD and courageously went and told his fellow Israelites what was to be done.

What I want to ask you all this week is this: What is your courage like? Are you a Jonah or a Joshua? Joshua took no hesitation in commanding and following what is was that the LORD told him to do, Jonah on the other hand fled away. I will say though that Jonah received a second chance and went and taught as he should’ve in the first place, however for us there may not be a second chance. If we don’t take the first opportunity we have to be courageous and spread the word of God then we may never get another chance and that person’s soul could be lost forever. So I ask you again: Are you a Jonah or a Joshua? –Jack D.