September 7, 2008
Things We Cannot Run Away From
By Mark Reeves
We all have a desire to run away from unpleasant things. Jonah was a character who illustrated this (Jonah 1:1-2, 3, 10). But consider some lessons that we learn from him.
There are some things that we cannot run away from
We cannot run away from the eyes of the Lord (Psa. 139:1-16; cf. Acts 17:28).
We cannot escape from self. “The wicked flee when no one pursues . . .” said the writer of Proverbs (28:1), because the only one chasing him, is himself!
Neither can we escape responsibility (“for each one shall bear his own load”, Gal. 6:5), or consequences (“for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”, 6:7).
We cannot run away from death. In the list of genealogies following Adam (Gen. 5), each entry, with the exception of one (Enoch, 5:24), ends with the phrase, “and he died”. We live in a world where death abounds. We can exercise, take vitamins, get frequent check-ups, and we still die. Young people die too.
Finally, we cannot run from the final judgment. Both the small and the great will be there (Rev. 20:12-13). Everything will be brought before God, “including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl 12:14). Watergate, who shot Kennedy, Oliver North and the Iran/Contra affair, our own secrets, all these we might succeed in covering up in this life, but not in the Judgment Day.
Why we cannot run away from these things
There are reasons why we cannot run away from these things. We cannot run from the eyes of the Lord because God is everywhere (omnipresent), and He sees all. “‘Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord” (Jer. 23:24; cf. Heb. 4:13).
We cannot run from self because we are created with a conscience. Even those who haven’t been around the Bible much “show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves [their] thoughts accusing or else excusing [them])” (Rom. 2:14‑15). Like a red light on the dashboard, it can help keep us from getting into trouble.
We cannot run away from death because it is appointed to us by God (Heb. 9:27). It was appointed because of sin (Gen. 3:19). For the same reason we cannot run away from a judgment day. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness . . .” (Acts 17:30-31). The appointment has already been made.
How should this knowledge affect us?
It should cause us to strive to please Him! First of all that means acknowledge and trust Him. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6). Furthermore it means we will obey him. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all” (Eccl. 12:13).
Secondly it should cause us to try to keep our conscience clean. We sin when we violate it (Rom. 14:23). So we should first teach it properly (2 Tim. 3:14-17), and then take pains to keep it clean (Acts 24:16, RSV). What a blessing to have and to plan for a clean conscience!
Thirdly, knowing we cannot run from death should move us to prepare for it by taking the “sting” out. Death would not be so bad if there were no more to it, but the “sting” of death is sin (1 Cor. 15:56, NKJV). If one’s sins are forgiven, then death is a blessing rather than something to be feared (Rom. 8:1), it is a “gain”, something “far better” (Phil. 1:21-23) than anything we’ve ever known.
By doing this we also prepare for judgment. We must prepare the account that we will have to give (Rom. 14:12). If we are in Christ, no one can bring any charge against our account (Rom. 8:33).
Conclusion
Confronted by these things, one of our options is to run. We can get so involved in pleasure that we forget God. We can practice sin so long that we “sear” our conscience (1 Tim. 4:2). We can try to place death “far down the road” in our own minds. Or we can react to the idea of Judgment like some of those in Athens long ago who “mocked” (Acts 17:32).
Our other option is to accept the truth so that we have no problem from which to run! “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh . . . So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the