Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "Majoring in the Minors."

Stories make up the fabric of our lives. We all have stories to tell, including the prophet Jonah. He told the story of resisting the call of the Lord and how that worked out for him. Jonah resisted so much that he attempted to run away to the furthermost point of the known world. While on board a ship bound for Tarshish, Jonah was thrown overboard in the midst of a violent storm and landed in the belly of a big fish. While in there Jonah did a lot of soul searching and quite a bit of praying. The Lord heard those prayers and directed the fish to spew Jonah out on the shore. It was then that Jonah rather half-heartedly made his way to Nineveh to challenge them to repent. The Ninevites did just that, to Jonah’s great disdain.

The story offered in the Book of Jonah is one that should challenge us all about the call we receive from God and how we respond to that call. The Book of Jonah should challenge us about our faithfulness when the Lord does call. It should challenge us to examine our own hearts when it comes to reaching out to those we may not ordinarily associate with.