A Brief Lesson From Jonah

We started a brief study in the book of Jonah last night in our small group. It is interesting that when the supernatural storm started, the sailors tried to save themselves by human effort. That was the natural thing for them to do. "The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them..." (Jonah 1:4-5, NASB). Even after Jonah told them their only hope was to throw him overboard, they still continued their human efforts to save themselves. "However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them" (Jonah 1:13, NASB).

This same situation exists today. Just as the ship was in grave danger, sinners are in grave danger without the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Even though it is human nature to try very hard to overcome that danger, as Jonah said, "Salvation is from the Lord" (Jonah 2:9, NASB). No amount of human effort can succeed in saving a soul. Only the Lord can do that.