Wednesday Bible Blurb “The Runaway” 2 19 2025
My bike was a yellow 10 speed Schwinn, and I could really move fast on it. My friends and I would ride our bikes to school every day and carry our books in the book baskets we had attached to our bikes. It was the perfect mode of transportation for an 11-year-old to run away from home on. I was so upset with my mom that I decided to run away to grandma and grandpa’s house in Montana. The fact that I was starting in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles did not seem to compute to my young mind. I was leaving and going to Montana and that was all there was to it. I started my great runaway trek without any food, extra clothing and only one bottle of water and no money. To reach grandma I would have to ride my bike and camp for over 1,200 miles and cross mountains and deserts. Certainly, I could have planned better for my great escape. About three miles into my journey, I started to calm down and think a bit. Hmm, this running away business seems like it might not be the best idea. After three or four miles heading in a northerly direction, I turned my yellow 10 speed Schwinn around and rode back home.
Have we ever felt like running away from our responsibilities? Life gets rough and the tough get going- somewhere. If so, you are in great company. We see at least three great escape, runaway emotional men who fled from their responsibilities in the Bible. They probably could have planned their runaway trips better too. I guess they did not have a yellow 10 speed.
Moses: Moses was an Israelite being raised by the daughter of Pharoah. One day he witnessed an Egyptian task master beating a slave. In his emotional outburst, Moses killed the Egyptian and then he ran away from his life in Egypt. When his murderous crime was found out we see “Moses feared and said, ’Surely this thing is known!’ When Pharoah heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down my a well.” Moses was runaway too.
Jonah: Jonah was an Israelite who God told to go to Nineveh and preach repentance to them. Instead of obeying God, Jonah becomes a runaway. Instead of getting on a yellow 10 speed Schwinn bike, he hops on a boat and tries to hide from his responsibilities. A huge storm comes up and as the boat is about to sink, Jonah owns up to his mistake and they throw him overboard. Soon the storm passes, the waters calm down and Jonah gets swallowed by a very large fish and after three days and three nights he is barfed (Jonah 2:10) up on the shore to continue his way to Nineveh. Jonah was a runaway too.
Elijah: It was a very long hard day when Elijah stood against the prophets of Baal and called fire to rain down from heaven to burn up the sacrifice. Then, he had the 850 false prophets of Baal killed by the sword. One would think Elijah was full of the power of God and full of faith. Yet, Jezebel threatens him, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” (I Kings 19:2 [NKJV]). Elijah then becomes a runaway too and heads for the hills of Judea.
Moses, Jonah and Elijah were upset and decided to run away from their troubles. When we have a bad day, do we get overly emotional and run away from God? We should be running toward God, not away from Him. How many of us have a yellow 10 speed Schwinn bike with book racks hidden in our psyche, just waiting to bolt away at the first sign of trouble? Instead of running away from God when troubles strike, remember what God has to say. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (II Pet. 3:9). God is on our side; He wants all of us to succeed and He has done and is doing everything in His power to help us run straight to Him. In fact, “…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). When we run away, He comes for us.
God went back after all three of His famous biblical run aways. Moses: 40 years after running away from Egypt we see, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. (Ex. 3:1-2). God caught his attention with a bush that did not burn, and the runaway became one of the greatest of all God’s prophets. Jonah: “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’” (Jonah 3:1-2). Elijah: While hiding in a cave trying not to be found by evil Queen Jezebel, God shows Himself to Elijah and lets him know he is not alone as there are 7,000 in Isreal who have not bowed down to Baal. God then tells Elijah to continue his work and sends him off to Damascus. (I Kings 19). In all three cases God did not abandon them even though they had run away from Him. God never abandons us either!
I no longer have my yellow 10 speed Schwinn bike with book racks. I guess without my bike I can’t run away from God. God came after me too, just like He comes after all of us. He went after His three biblical run aways and returned them to the duties He had assigned them too. He wants us to follow Him and do what He says. Don’t be a runaway from God! Let us all do our Christian duty and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 28:19). Now, let’s get on our yellow 10 speed bike and go forth.
