We all love to hear about how our parents came up with our names and maybe you’ve been there yourself. The challenge of choosing the right name is highly personal and sometimes fraught with many emotions and disagreements. All I know is that my father named me and while I ultimately don’t know why he chose it, I do know “Jessica” was one of the top 5 baby names the year I was born. Far from a choice of popularity, in biblical times naming a child helped establish their identity by carrying the symbolic weight of expressing hopes for the child’s future. It often reflected the parents’ faith and relationship with God. So let’s look at the names we see in the book of Jonah. Verse 1 reveals that Jonah is the son of Amittai. The name Jonah means “dove” which is often a symbol of peace, purity, new beginnings, and the Holy Spirit. Amittai means “truth” or “faithful” which are qualities of God. These are interesting facts to know as we look for meaning in the book.
The prophet Jonah was to deliver a message to the people of Nineveh that would lead them to truth and peace with God… a new beginning. However, there was a new beginning that God hoped to birth in the messenger himself—the loathsome challenge of loving an enemy. To do this, the inner belly of the ship carried Jonah through a storm and the belly of the giant fish carried him to the physical place where God needed him. But it was the most inward parts of Jonah that carried resentment, bitterness, and hostility instead of love. It’s here in Jonah’s heart that God wanted to bring about transformation.
It’s here in our hearts too that God wants us to bend to the way of love… a way that doesn’t seem fair or to make sense. In fact, the exercise of faith often doesn’t make sense; it simply requires trust in the One who makes sense of it all. Does it make sense that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:8-10)? I know my own heart and no, it does not. But God. That is all… but God. He knows best and His ways higher (Isaiah 55:9).
What kind of faith is God asking you to have in Him concerning expressing His kind of love? The agape kind. Are there resentments that God is asking you to let go of? Or steps of reconciliation with someone or a group of people that God would have you take? Allow the Holy Spirit to carry your heart to new beginnings where the truth brings freedom, new life, and love that has no limits.
Jessica Klootwyk
Discipleship Director