There is a very important truth that I believe is one of the most basic foundations of successful living:  Obedience to God is what is best for us.

One of my favorite quotes lately is from Wayne Grudem; he writes, “Sin is ultimately irrational.”

Sin doesn’t make sense because when we sin, we our hurting ourselves.

This morning we are continuing to look at the book of Jonah.  In chapter 1, we saw Jonah on the run from God.  In chapter 2 we saw Jonah returning to God.  And now, in chapter 3, we see Jonah living out that returning - by obedience.  Jonah responds to God by obeying Him. 

How should we respond to God?  Just like Jonah, we should respond to God with obedience.

Why should we obey God?  There are a number of reasons why we should obey God.  But here is a pretty good reason:  because it is best for us.

God is love, and He only wants what is best for us.  Obedience to God will always result in what is best for us.  And here we need to be careful because not everything we want is best for us.  In fact, probably many of the things that we want are not best for us.  So obedience to God is not necessarily going to result in what we want, but it will definitely give us what we need. 

We who have children know this to be true!  A few days ago my son, Josiah, asked me for ice cream at 8:00 in the morning.  As good as ice cream tastes, I know that ice cream is not anywhere close to being even part of a nutritional breakfast!  Like a good father, I told him that he could have ice cream later in the day after he had eaten some healthy food.

We love our children, so we don’t give them everything they want.  If we gave them everything they wanted, we would be hurting them, and it would be evidence that we didn’t really love them!

So it is with God.  God has our best interest in mind.  He wants LIFE for us, and he is the God who knows all things!  Surely, if he knows everything and loves us, it would make sense for us to obey Him!  Not obeying Him would be the height of stupidity!

We saw how Jonah’s life quickly fell apart when he ran from God in chapter 1.  In chapter 2 we him do an about-face, returning to God.  And now, in chapter 3, we see Jonah living that out – by obeying God.  As we look at Jonah’s experience of obeying God in chapter 3, we get a picture of what our obedience should look like as well.

So how do we live this out?  We recognize that responding to God with obedience is the key, but how do we live lives of obedience?

As we look at Jonah’s experience in Jonah chapter 3, we see four things that we, too, can do to respond to God’s will in obedience.

Please open your Bibles with me to Jonah chapter 3.

The first thing that we notice we need to do from Jonah’s experience is this: Observe God’s Grace

Consider Jonah 3:1.  We read: “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, …”

Grace is a gift.  It is an undeserved gift.

If we want to live lives of obedience to God, it is important that we realize that being a part of what God is doing is great privilege.

Now when most people today think of ‘obedience to God,’ they are not thinking about obeying God in the positive sense of actively living for God.

When we think of obedience to God, we often think first of what God tells us we can’t do.  Obeying God for most people today means not killing anyone, not lying, not swearing… and the list goes on.

Question: Is that what a Christian is?  Is that what has become of the Christian faith?  Merely ‘not being bad?’

We are in an age that desperately needs a new definition of obedience!

We need to remember what we were created for!  Remember Ephesians 2:10?  "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

We are only going to find fulfillment in life by doing what we were created for.  We were created for doing good works!

Remember Jesus’ words in John 5:19?  "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise."

Is that what we are all about as well?  Are we constantly on the lookout to see what God is doing so that we can join him?

We live in a world of hurting people.  People need to experience God.  People are hungry for a reason to live.  Do we realize that it is a huge privilege to be called by God to join him in spreading this Life that is in Jesus?

There are hurting people all around us – at work, at school, in our neighborhoods.  God is doing a major work in some of these people’s hearts.  Are we on the lookout to see what God is doing so that we can join him?

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…”

It was the grace of God that God would invite Jonah to be a part of his work the first time… but Jonah ran.  And now, God is asking him a second time!  More of God’s grace!

It doesn’t always happen that way.  God may not ask you a second time.  If we run from God, we can’t be sure that he will give us the same opportunity again! 

Is there something that God is calling you to do?  Do it without hesitation.  The opportunity may not be there tomorrow!

Here is one example of many in Scripture when no second chance is given: consider King Saul.  We read in 1 Samuel 15 that he did disobeyed God.  And God sent the prophet Samuel to tell him that he disobeyed God and that God was rejecting him as King!  Saul repented.  But there was no second chance to be King; Saul’s life went downhill from then on.

Do you see what a privilege it is to obey God?  Do you see what a gift it is to be invited by God to join Him in his work?

If we want to live lives of obedience, the first major step is to recognize that our God is gracious in giving us the invitation!

God doesn’t need us!  He could accomplish all of his purposes without our help.  But he doesn’t.  He invites us to join him.

Observe God’s grace.

And the second thing that we see from Jonah’s experience is that we need to: Be Ready for a Challenge

We read in verses 2-4:  "Arise, go to Nineveh , that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you."  So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh , according to the word of the LORD.  Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.  Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

We need to be reminded what a challenge God had set before Jonah!  God here describes Nineveh as “a great city” (in verse 2) and again as an “exceedingly great city” (in verse 3).  The city of Nineveh is estimated to have had a population of about 120,000.  For a bit of perspective, Jerusalem at the time was under 30,000!

Not only are dealing with a huge city, but we are dealing with the enemies of God’s people!  We can only begin to imagine all of the objections that Jonah could have had to obeying God!

Consider also the message that Jonah was to bring!  “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

Talk about a bringer of bad news!  How’d you like to have his job!

When God calls us to obey him, it won’t necessarily be easy.  In fact, it might seem to be absolutely impossible!

Be ready for a challenge.

I am reminded of David; he had a challenge in deciding to fight Goliath of the Philistines.  David was totally unequipped for the job!  But he went ahead and accepted the challenge and obeyed God…

How is God calling you to obey Him?  Does it seem too hard?  Impossible?

Sharing your faith with your neighbors and co-workers?  Going on a mission trip?  Serving in the church in some way that is out of your comfort zone?

Jonah had a difficult calling.  God gave Jonah a very difficult and unattractive mission!  Yet Jonah obeyed.  We read, “and Jonah arose and went… according to the word of the LORD.”

Wouldn’t you love your life to be described like this?

I know I would love to have my life described as:  “Steve did according to the word of the LORD.”

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Wouldn’t you love to be ready for the challenge?

Jonah was!

And no doubt we recognize that Jonah could not have accomplished this task had it not been for God working in and through him!  This brings us to the third thing that we need to do: Enjoy God’s Miracles

We read in verses 5-9:  And the people of Nineveh believed God.  They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.  The word reached the king of Nineveh , and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.  And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh , "By the decree of the king and his nobles:  Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything.  Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.  Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.  Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.

Doesn’t that just blow you away?  The people of Nineveh believed God!  They called a fast… the greatest and the least of them.  Even the king humbled himself!  These proud and evil people believed God and humbled themselves.

Notice that we do not read:  “And the people of Nineveh believed …. Jonah.”   We read, instead, “And the people of Nineveh believed God.”

When the people heard Jonah’s words, they heard God.

Have you experienced this miracle as well?  Have you experienced God using you?

I am reminded of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:20:  “We are Christ’s ambassadors.”

When we relate to people around us, we are representing Jesus.

How have you experienced being Christ’s ambassador?  Is there any joy that compares?

The miracle is that God chooses to speak through us.  The miracle is that he actually changes lives…. And uses US to it!

The people of Nineveh believed the message that Jonah brought to them; they accepted is as a message from God.

When we obey God, he uses us.

We certainly have the opportunity to carry on with life as usual.  We can ignore God and do what we want to do, but the result will be our loss.

For when we work, the accomplishment is temporary.  But when God works, the result is eternal.  Don’t you want to invest your life in things eternal?

Join God in what he is doing; obey Him.  And enjoy the miracles.

And the fourth thing that we notice from Jonah’s experience here is this:  we need to: Yearn for God’s Will

We read in verse 10:  “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

Do you see the problem that Jonah is in?  He went to Nineveh and proclaimed exactly what God told him to proclaim:  "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

But when they respond with humility, God responds by not bringing upon them the disaster that he had Jonah proclaim.

Jonah now has to decide how he is going to react to God’s will.  Unfortunately, as we’ll see in the next chapter, Jonah is upset and gets mad at God.

A big part of responding to God in obedience is yearning for God’s will.  Whose will do you want, anyway?

Some people use God.  Few people would ever verbalize this, of course; but this is what we think: “God, I’ll obey you, but I expect you to ______ (fill in the blank).”

Our obedience to God should not be wrapped up in any worldly expectations on God.  True obedience is doing what God says, trusting Him with the results, and accepting whatever He may do!

If we really yearn for God’s will, we will be yearning for one thing: his glory.

I recently came across a great definition of God’s glory: His holiness shining forth.

What is his holiness?  That God is Holy means he is “totally other than” everything.  God is in a class all by himself. 

My son Josiah has a new pet lizard named Zach.  Zach is one of many, many lizards on this planet.  Zach is not in a class all by himself; he is a lizard.

Spot is a dog.  Fluffy is a cat.  Micky is a mouse.

God is – God.

Because God is Holy, he is also the ultimate treasure.

For the collector, be it one who collects stamps, coins, baseball cards… the most valuable items in the collection are the ones that are the most rare. 

Why is gold expensive?  Because it is rare.

God is the greatest treasure because he is the rarest of all!  He is totally different than anything and everything else that exists. 

So in desiring God’s glory, we essentially are desiring that his holiness – his great value – shines forth.

Is that your desire?

Too often we as Christians don’t seek God’s glory.  Like Jonah, we have our own plans for what God ought to do, and these plans are according to our own selfish desires, not for His glory!  Jonah wanted his enemies destroyed; he didn’t so much care for God to be known as merciful - especially in Nineveh.

But we do the same thing. 

“God, I’ll obey you.  But you better give me that job…”

“God, I’ll obey you.  But only if you make me healthy again.”

Why is it that when life doesn’t go our way, we find it so easy to reject God?

Do we yearn for God’s will?  Or do we just ‘obey’ Him so that life will ‘work’ and we’ll be ‘blessed.’

So can we just accept the fact that God’s glory is all that matters?

Whether I get the job or not, may God be glorified.

Whether I get that raise or not, may God be glorified.

Whether God heals or not, may God be glorified.

Paul was so wrapped up in the glory of God that he writes: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Can we get the big picture?  Can we give ourselves over to the fact that any significance that we have is only because we have a part in bringing glory to our creator?

So why do we obey God?

We obey him because He is the treasure and we want the world to know it.

We obey him because we can see the big picture:  It is all about Him.

So let’s do it.

He is worthy.

He is Holy!

Let’s pray.