Prime Up Your Ash Wednesday

 “Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Stand brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it means death. Safe guard the helpless and do no wrong.” —The oath of the Knights Templar

Everybody knows the baseline story of Jonah – this stubborn old guy gets swallowed up by a whale and three days later, spit up to save Nineveh. At least that’s how my kids told it back to me at breakfast today.

But this story has a powerful message, especially as we enter this season of Lent. Jonah was certainly ornery. He wasn’t up for the task of doing what he was called to do – preach repentance to a city doomed if he didn’t act. God specifically asked him to go and he just said “no” and ran the other way. Literally the other way, he tried to get as far away as he could from Nineveh.

In fact, he jumps aboard a ship to set sail as far away from that place as he could. But as it turns out, when you’re called, God brings you back one way or another. That ship gets stuck in a wicked storm and the crew fearing for their lives, starts throwing everything overboard to keep the vessel from sinking.

Jonah knew. Jonah knew that storm was for him. He tells the captain to throw him overboard and end it but despite the captain’s rejection, he finally relents and Jonah is thrown over. Jonah simply would rather die than let the crew be lost… and go back to Nineveh.

God wasn’t amused. Or maybe He was. So to let this prophet continue, our Lord does something incredible – He has some giant whale or fish at His command (to which anatomically, would have to be massive enough to host a human, allow for the stomach acids not to dissolve a man, have enough air in the gut to sustain him, and probably give enough water for him to drink to live for three days. None of that is possible with creatures we know, so did He make a new creature or simply retrofit a nearby bystander?) to swallow him and then give the knowledge of direction back to the shore where Jonah needed to be.

Finally, after all of this, Jonah’s stubbornness breaks and he can’t do anything but say “yes”. So he goes and preaches to Nineveh where the king hears his plea to repent, otherwise, the whole city will be destroyed. The king, to his credit, was moved to repentance and covered himself with ashes and a sack, inspiring the city to do the same and the city is saved.

We cover ourselves with ashes, because of the many Jonahs who came before us, telling us to listen to God and repent – the disciples who had run from God’s prompting only to wind up back with great purpose. So many of them along our family tree and history that we’ve long forgotten names and faces to, but because of those actions and lost stories along the way, we are Christian.

Where are you stubbornly saying “no” to our Lord in your life? Why?

Whatever is asked of you by our Lord, save yourself the time and trouble, and say “yes”. There are many who will be impacted by that “yes” who you will never know down the line. Your repentance and “yes” might look like going to a Nineveh, maybe it’s a prompting to do a new and greater work, or maybe it’s a decision you’ve been putting off for fear of action.

Say “yes” this Lent. Repent and live the gospel.

Stay Righteous.

Adam Jarosz is the founder of Righteous Co., a mission-driven brand offering coaching and adventure retreats designed to inspire bold faith and strong leadership. With 20 years of experience in youth ministry, he’s passionate about equipping others to live with purpose. When he’s not building Righteous, Adam is a devoted husband and father of four, always seeking new adventures with his family. Follow his journey at RighteousCo.com, @righteous_co on IG, or with the Iron Ore Podcast on YouTube!