Jonah 1:1

Jonah 1:1 says, Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  We need first to realize that Jonah recognized God's voice.  We as His followers today must recognize God's voice if we are to serve Him.  There is a lot of noise and confusion in the world today.  People tell us and promise us many things that may sound appealing, but first we must listen for what God tells us before we act on any other call to action.  Jonah was identified as a specific person, and God identifies us today specifically and individually.  He knows each of us from our beginning to who we are now.  We are born to be a part of His plan.  Again, we still determine if we will follow God or not, but we do have a purpose when we are born, and especially when we are reborn.  Verse two says, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."  God specified Jonah's mission.  He did not leave Jonah guessing as to what He was to do.  I don't believe that God leaves us guessing today.  First Jonah was told to arise.  We may know God's will for us today, but in order to do it, we must first arise. Jonah was told where he was to go and why.  We, as followers of Christ, have already been told where we are to go and why.  We are to go into all the world and make disciples, because the wickedness of the world has come up to God.  Again, when we think of the evil in the world today, we need to realize that it is nothing new.  When we see all the ethnic wars today, we can simply look back to Nazi Germany to see that it is nothing new.  God sends us to cry out against evil.  We are called as individuals to be a part of the overall mission, reaching the world with the gospel, and it is up to us how we respond, just as it was for Jonah.