Jonah is the story, not of a man who diligently pursued the presence of God, but the story of a man who took flight from his duty, from his calling, from his responsibility, and even thought to escape from the very presence of God.

The Lord is omnipresent. He's everywhere at once, and he sees everything. The unbeliever can't hide from him, and the Christian can't flee from him either.

And Jonah reminds us of that truth. You're listening to Renewing Remind, as we spend a week looking at various books and people from the Old Testament.

Jonah ran from God, and he ran from the calling that was upon his life. You and I can be tempted to do similar, so today's message from R.C. Sproul should serve as an encouragement to each of us.

And today only the complete Jonah series, and Dr. Sproul's overview of the entire Bible, is available for a donation of any amount at RenewingRemind.org.

I'll give you more details and reminds you after today's message.

So here's R.C. Sproul to introduce us to the familiar story of Jonah, and to exhort us to follow God, and be faithful to our callings.

When I was a little boy, my mother made me sing in the children's choir in the church, and how they would laugh and fuss one on Sunday mornings.

I had to dress up for the occasion with the black, casick, and the white surplus, and this big black satin bow tie, this huge, big tie, and the starch collar, and my uncle would look at me and say,

Oh, there's a little Lord Funtleroi, and I was so embarrassed to have to go outside wearing this outfit, and we sang in the children's choir.

And once a year, we would sing the same anthem, called Seaky the Lord, while he may be found.

And the highlight of our experience as choir boys was the singing of that anthem, because the solo was sung by the lead soloist of the adult choir, who had a magnificent tenor voice.

And he would sing the lead in Seaky the Lord while he may be found, and we would sing the background to it.

And even though I was not a believer, and this was just a wrote exercise that I engaged in because my parents forced me, there was something about that song that captured me.

Seaky the Lord, while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man, his thoughts, for he will have mercy and abundantly pardon.

I never tried to memorize the words to that anthem, which are taken directly from the scriptures, as you well know.

And yet I can't tell you how many times in my life the words of that anthem have come back into my consciousness, Seaky the Lord, while he may be found.

And when I think of that verse, I don't hear the words in my mind as if someone were reading them from the written page.

I hear the voice of Dick Dodd's, the tenor from our adult choir singing those words, Seaky the Lord while he may be found.

And I think how often the scripture calls upon us to come near to the living God, to seek his face, to search out his presence.

And yet I realize now that the Bible says that by nature no one seeks after God, that the seeking after God as Jonathan Edwards taught is the business of the Christian.

We don't begin to seek God until God has first converted our hearts. The seeking of God is the lifelong pursuit of the believer, because by nature we are not seekers of God.

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