Which way are you running?
Quite frequently the Bible speaks of our Christian journey here on earth as a race. Paul told the Philippians “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13-14) That goal was a reference to the finish line of a race. Similarly, the Hebrew writer also made reference to this goal as well in Heb. 12:1-2 where he challenges us to lay aside whatever weighs us down and to “run with endurance the race set before us.” He even describes Who awaits us at the finish line says, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” In the book of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul also said, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” Thus we can see the life of a Christian described as a race. Not a short sprint, but an endurance race – a marathon.
We not only find this analogy in the Bible, but in life as well. The idea being that we have to keep going (or we are going) toward the finish line or conclusion of our lives, whether we want to or not. Whether or not we “win” depends on which direction we are going. And that leads me to the title of this article: Which way are you running?
Are you running toward God or are you running away from Him? It is quite clear that if we are to secure a home in heaven when this life is over we need to be running TOWARD God. When we speak of running toward God we mean that by the way that we live our lives we are drawing closer to Him and as a result He is drawing closer to us as well. See James 4:8. But when you look at your life right now are you closer to Him or further away from Him than we were a while back?
We can better understand this idea by examining a prophet we read about in the Bible. His name was Jonah and he prophesied around 800-780 B.C. In the book of Jonah his mission was to go to the city of Nineveh (the future capital city of Assyria) and preach to them to repent. For some reason, Jonah did not want to go and instead got on a boat going to Tarshish which was in the opposite direction (Jonah 1:1-4). In doing this Jonah was running AWAY from God. God had given him specific instructions and instead of complying he went the opposite way. Jonah was not ignorant to the Lord’s instructions, nor was he incapable of complying. Instead he simply refused to obey God and went to extreme measures to avoid obeying God. Another word for this is attitude is rebellion. Rebellion is defined as “to rise up in open defiance of authority, with the presumed intention to overthrow it or to act in complete opposition to its demands – to rebel against, to revolt, to engage in insurrection…” (Louw & Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament). It ought to be obvious how God feels about rebellion against Him. In 1 Samuel 15:23, the prophet Samuel told King Saul, “for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…” In the New Testament references to rebellion are made concerning Israel’s sinful activities in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:8,15; Jude 11, cf. Numbers 16). When one rebels against God he is without hope.
What about us? Are we running AWAY from God? Are there commands in God’s word we simply refuse to obey? We know they are there and that we are expected to comply, but we simply do not care and refuse to submit. Do we find ourselves taking measures to avoid facing that which we know God wants us to do? Sometimes people will go to extreme measures to keep from doing a simple (but unpleasant) task. Think of the child who has been told to do his homework, but instead of doing the work, he find a big list of “chores” and other things he “has to” do as he puts off doing that homework. But here is the thing, after he has exerted great effort to do all those chores; he STILL HAS the homework to do.
We cannot pick and choose which commands to obey. James 2:10 says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven…” In this we see that even acknowledging Him is not enough. We HAVE TO obey Him in all things (cf. Hebrews 5:9).
Furthermore, are you growing the way you ought to grow? We are expected to grow up (2 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 5:12-6:1) and produce fruit (John 15:1-2). If we are not drawing closer to God, we are, at the very least, walking away from Him if not running. A popular saying in the business world is, “If you are not moving forward, you’re going backward.” This applies in spiritual matters as well. Do not be guilty of running away from God.
Back to Jonah. The story continues in chapter 1:4-16 noting that there arose a great storm which threatened the ship Jonah was on. After it was determined that Jonah was the problem, he was cast overboard and swallowed by a great fish that the Lord had prepared for him. Chapter 2 tells us that from the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to God. It was a prayer of turning back to God. There are two points to consider in this that relate to our subject.
First, understanding that while Jonah tried, he really could NOT really run away from God. God is omnipresent, which means He is everywhere. David understood this when he penned the 139th Psalm. There he said, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold you are there….” (7-12). The Hebrew writer said, “And there is no creature hidden from Him sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13). The truth of the matter is that we may be able to run away from God’s commands for now, but we can never hide from Him. AND in time, what you do will catch up with you.
Second, Jonah was now running TOWARD God. That is what repentance does. It causes one to come to his senses and to change his mind about the way he has been living his sinful life. This leads to a real change in conduct. He is one who goes from rebellion and mediocrity to a willingness to submit to God. True repentance is described in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, “Forgodly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death, For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”
Consider also that unlike Jonah, God will not provide a big fish for us today. Therefore, however far away from God one has tried to run, the distance back to Him is just as long and sometimes more difficult. IN other words, if we have been living in spiritual rebellion we cannot expect God to accept us back without our putting forth efforts to get back to where we were before we left Him. Nor can we expect the trip back to be an easy one. True repentance demands not only a change of mind, but efforts to restore whatever damage we have done. That might mean making restitution for taking what was not yours, going to those who you have wronged and asking forgiveness face to face, facing the consequences of your past or maybe even severing an unscriptural relationship. A good example of one who understood the cost is the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. When he “came to himself” in vs. 17, he was willing to return to his father, not as a son (he felt he didn’t deserve that anymore) but as a servant. He knew the road back was long and painful but he had gotten to where he was on his own and returning would have its consequences. Galatians 6:7 says, “Whatever a man sows that he shall also reap.”
Back to our text in Jonah: After he prayed to God we are told that the fish spit him out on land. (2:10). Chapter 3 begins, “Now the Lord came to Jonah a second time saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh that great city and preach the message I tell you.” Jonah finally obeys and goes to Nineveh and preaches. Jonah is now walking WITH God. This is where we want to be: submitting to the will of God even in the things that we don’t want to do, or things we do not completely understand or things that are unpleasant. When we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and obey Him in all things, then we are walking with Him.
What about us? Are we walking with God in all things? If he were to “test” our faith, would we pass? How far are we willing to go to avoid the test? Let us learn from Jonah that you cannot run away from God. And the truth is that no matter how much you rebel one day you will face God and submit. “For it is written: ‘As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:11-12 Think about it! TATJR