A young man was preparing to go away to college for the first time and was saying good-bye to his father. The dad said to his son, “Don’t let your professors take Jonah away from you.” To this concerned father, Jonah represented his love for the Bible, and he did not want the higher learning of the university to cause his son to stop believing in Jonah.
The son smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Dad.” Four years later, on graduation day, the son was being congratulated by his father. The father asked his son, “Do you still have Jonah?” The graduate smiled and said, “No, but you don’t either; Jonah is not in your Bible.” The father was surprised and shocked. When he returned home he took his Bible off the shelf to prove to his son how wrong he was. To his amazement, there was no Jonah in his Bible. His son had taken a penknife and cut out of his father’s Bible the book of Jonah.
The father asked his son why he had done this. The son smugly replied that if his father had not missed reading the book of Jonah for four years, it might just as well not be in his Bible.
This father is typical of far too many people who profess to believe in God yet do not bother to read His book. One survey reported that 94% of all Americans believe in God, 89% pray but only 30% read the Bible even once a week. This father, who gave so much lip service to Jonah, did not miss him for four years.
What about us? Do we draw nigh to God with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him?
Jesus was quoting Isaiah when he said that if we do this, then we worship God in vain. How many of us say that the Truth is the most important thing in our lives, yet do not read Jonah and the other 65 books in our Bibles?
There is no way we can cultivate the mind of Christ unless we do what he did. And what did he do? He knew his Bible. He not only knew it, he had memorized a great deal of it and could quote it at a moment’s notice to help overcome his temptations. Paul tells us that we can have the very thoughts of Christ; but to do so, we need to do what our Lord did. He read and he prayed.
Now if the survey is correct that 89% pray but only 30% read the Bible, then at least 59% are wasting their time in praying. Why do we say that? Solomon said it. He tells us that if we do not bother to read our Bibles, our prayers will not be answered. This is how he put it: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
These are strong words, but they are inspired words. We need to listen to God by reading His words, and then He promises us that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We must remember that God wants us to pray, but He wants us to listen to His wise instruction as well.
Let’s not let anyone take Jonah away from us. Let’s keep reading Jonah not only to make sure all the books are still there, but also to keep God’s messages fresh in our minds. In this way we become wise unto salvation.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One