One of the funniest things to watch is a baby as he/she begins to “feel their oats” and tries to start crawling.  They sort of look like a cross between a turtle with too big of a belly and a weakling trying to do pushups.   In last week’s message/post, I talked about Jonah running from God.  Running from God always has its consequences.  ALWAYS.  Do you remember the scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest begins running, and then keeps on running?  He ran through all kinds of weather.  He steps in something in the road and a slogan develops.  He wipes his face with a towel someone gives him and a happy face appears.  But then one day, Forrest quit running.  It was almost like he woke up from a long nightmare, realized what he was doing, and just quit.   Do I really need to make the spiritual application for that?   I don’t think so.  You all are smarter than that.

But…there does come a point in every person’s life that he/she must stop running, especially from God.  In 1893 Francis Thompson published a poem called “The Hound of Heaven.” In 1978 Christian rock band, Daniel Amos,  wrote a song called Hound of Heaven which included the lyrics: “You can’t run, you can’t hide from the Hound of Heaven/You’re free to choose or refuse the seeker of souls.”    To hear the song go here.  (Warning: be prepared for a probing song).

So…when a person stops running, what is left?  In Jonah’s case it was to come crawling back to God.  Sure, he had some incentive.  I seriously doubt the inside of a big fish’s stomach would be the most ideal place to be.  😉  In fact, let me take a stab at this: I can think of a whole lot better places to be!!   But it became the perfect time for a course change. What happens to a person who is stopped by God while in his rebellion, and then takes stock of where he has been?  Let’s ask it this way: what does a person do when the Hound of Heaven pursues you? How hard was it to catch you? 

I will be preaching from Jonah 2 this week in my series on Transformed by Grace.   I sure would appreciate your prayers for this Sunday.  Thanks ahead of time.

One more thing: if you read yesterday’s post, you know that I am offering 4 free copies of the book, Unfinished Love.   Would you mind promoting it by using your fb and Twitter accounts?  I am seriously not interested in broadening my readership for the sake of numbers.  I want as many people as possible to know about this book and to have a chance to win.  Thanks a bunch.