Bible Verse of The Day – 2-26-20

Jonah 3:2 (NKJV) 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

Jonah was a frail, fickle human being, just like many of us.

What do we mean by that? Let’s take a look.

God had previously told Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry out against the wickedness of the people.

Jonah 1:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

But Jonah fled to another city, went aboard a ship and headed out to sea.

And to make a long story short, he ended up getting tossed overboard, swallowed by a large fish, and then getting vomited up onto dry land after spending 3 days in the belly of the fish and crying out to God in repentance.

Then God spoke again to Jonah, instructing him to go to Nineveh and warn the people.

This time, Jonah obeyed! He traveled to Nineveh and warned the city of the impending doom, just 40 days ahead.

Nineveh heeded Jonah’s warning and repented. And God spared them!

This was awesome news. Or was it?

Jonah was so upset with God for sparing them that he told God to take his life from him.

Jonah 4:3 (NKJV) 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

You see, Jonah was more worried about his reputation than he was about a city of 120,000 people being allowed to live because they had repented.

Even though God had spared Jonah from his own disobedient choices, he wished to watch the destruction of the great city of Nineveh, simply so he would look good.

Do we ever do this? Do we ever prefer ourselves over others when we see that God, in His mercy, has spared them from the consequences of their choices?

This can be a hard lesson for some of us. It can be hard to understand God’s mercy when we see it applied to others whom we were sure would be destroyed by the choices they had made and the things they had done.

But if God’s mercy is good enough for us, then it is good enough for others, too.

Let’s ask God to show us where we might be guilty of the same sin as Jonah; the sin of pride. Let us learn to recognize that God is not partial, and that He gives His mercy to anyone willing to cry out to Him.

Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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