Christian Devotional – April 26, 2026

The Reluctant Follower, Day 4

They called him innocent. Read Jonah 1:13-16.

I remember being younger and getting into arguments with my brother. We would be fussing and arguing about something and then mom would get upset at us. What do each of us claim? “She/He started it!” Basically, we are yelling that we are innocent and we shouldn’t be punished!

Yesterday, we see that Jonah is telling the fishermen that he’s completely guilty and that they should just kill him by tossing him into the sea. Instead, these ungodly men are doing everything to save Jonah’s life. They don’t want to throw him into the sea. Jonah doesn’t just jump overboard. So they are left with rowing as hard as they can until they get to the place where they decide they have no choice but to do what Jonah has told them to do. They pray this prayer, asking that God not hold then accountable for killing this “innocent” man.

Why do they call him innocent? Jonah has already told them that he is guilty, yet they are hesitant to follow through on the justice that Jonah requested and even when they do, the call him innocent. Did they really believe he was innocent? Probably not. But still, the only thing Jonah had said he had done wrong was not obeying God. These were men who probably believed in a multitude of other gods and they had probably spent their whole life not obeying their gods. Here is a man who says the only crime he’s committed was not following God and as a result, he should die.

This would have struck them a little too close to home. They were disobedient to God as well, but was that really worthy of death? They didn’t want to think that, so they continued to call Jonah innocent until they threw him into the sea. When they saw God’s response to their actions, they knew and understood that their disobedience to God truly made them guilty. That was the reason for their profound repentance. They saw the power of God and the seriousness of obeying God.

Do we obey God? Do we recognize the seriousness and guilt of not obeying God? Are we trying to consider ourselves innocent, only to realize that we are actually guilty and in need of God?

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/4zdU2Thaapw