WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Wherever you are in life, whatever state you are in – mental, emotional, physical – God is present. Come, worship him, just as you are.

Near-death experience
So far, Jonah has been silent. Unlike other prophets, he did not even try to talk to God about his reservations (compare with Exodus 4:1,10; Jeremiah 1:6). It took this near-death experience (vs 1,5,6) to make him realise that life with God is all that matters (vs 4,7).

When loved ones die, we can worry about whether they were reconciled to God. Jonah’s experience offers insight into those last moments of life. At the point of death all we can offer God is the wordless cry of our heart, the turning of our spirit to his (vs 1,7).

God’s extraordinary kindness
Jonah’s prayer was flawed – he didn’t acknowledge his disobedience and even reinterprets events (v 4; compare with 1:3), implying that God drove him away! How reassuring that God responds with such extraordinary kindness (v 6).

Jonah’s experience is also a picture of Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 12:40) which we too will share. Jonah went ‘down’ to death, God met him in the ‘tomb’ of the fish (vs 2,6) and ordered this fishy tomb to release him back to life (v 10). When we die, we can be sure that the Lord will meet us and order death to release us to our new life with him.

Respond: Romans 8:37–39 reminds us that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ. With this truth in your mind, pray for those facing death.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-02-14