More Than Obedience

“So Jonah arose and went Ninevah, according to the word of the Lord…” Jonah 3:3a

I have the privilege of being married to a wonderful woman who loves me very much. She is intelligent, sensitive, attractive, godly, and I love her. As in any household, she sometimes asks my help with things that she needs to get done. To my shame, there are times when I’m not very interested in participating. I may do it, but I don’t want to!

When we read Jonah 3, we see his obedience to God’s call to share the Truth with the Ninevites. What you don’t see is that this is the second time God has asked him. Even so, we often say, “Good for Jonah–at least he eventually obeyed!” Yet, I don’t think that’s all God was after. If you read the rest of the book, you will see that outwardly Jonah obeyed, but, inwardly, his heart was far from God. Much the same way that I do not honor my wife when I help her with an unwilling heart, we do not honor God when our hearts are far from Him. Obedience for its own sake is not God’s desire. He doesn’t need our obedience to accomplish His will. He can do whatever He wishes, with or without us! God desires our hearts. Jonah demonstrated later that he was not concerned about the people of Ninevah–he was only concerned about himself.

God desires your obedience, but He wants so much more than that. He wants your heart. He wants you to love what He loves, to care about what He cares about. Why does God want that? Because He cares about you, and loving what God loves is the best way to live your life.

-Pastor Mike