Jonah 1:11

Jonah 1:11 says, Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.  They knew now that Jonah was the problem, but they were still trying to be fair to him.  They could have just killed him, but that might not have solved their problem.  I think they wanted to know what would keep God from destroying them.  If we are running from God as His people, we cannot hope to bring others to salvation. We may even cause more problems for those around us.  Jonah had not been fair to them by attempting to run and hide from God on their ship.  Verse twelve adds, And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.  At least Jonah accepted responsibility for his being the source of the problem.  If we realize today that our running from our relationship with God is causing problems, for those around us and for us, the first thing we must do is accept responsibility.  We cannot reach others with the gospel when we are not following God, and by that very fact, we put them in everlasting danger.  In one respect, Jonah was giving himself up that others might live as did Christ later on.  There was a big difference though.  Jonah was in this position because of his own sins, but Jesus was in the position of giving His life for us because of our sins.  Jonah did not say that he was the problem and jump overboard.  He put himself at their mercy.  If we today, as followers of God, find ourselves in trouble in the world, that does not mean we are to take ourselves out of the world.  We must accept our responsibility and place our earthly fate in the hands of the earthly rules of law.  If we have hurt others, there is no free pass for us to deny responsibility because God has forgiven us.  We are called to a higher standard, not one that excuses us from responsibility to act with concern for the lost people of the world.  If we are running from God, our earthly purpose has been sacrificed, so we must first acknowledge this before we can hope to help others.