In the book of Jonah three parties are involved: God almighty, the prophet Jonah and the people of Neniveh. Job tries to run from the presence and the assignment God has given to him because he desperately wants his enemies to remain in their sinful nature so that God will destroy them. He doesn’t understand why God will show this wicked nation any mercy. As self righteous and judgemental as Jonah is, so are some christians today. We do not pray that any mercy will be shown on some people we perceive as sinful and in our hearts we wish them only the wrath of God. That very mindset of wishing your neighbour doom is against the commandment of god in Mark 12:31 “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” In his attempt to flee from the presence of God, he puts not only his life in danger, but all the other people who were around him. Our selfish acts do not have repercussions on us only but we should bear in mind that when we take unwise decisions the innocent people around would suffer as well. God who has shown mercy to the sinful Assyrian city does not condemn Jonah to death in the sea but he sends rescue to him: offering him a chance to repent of his decision. God does not condemn as we think he does, however he is merciful towards us at all times and wants us to repent anytime we fall into sin. God doesn’t like us to harden our hearts against his will and laws. As God forgives and show mercy on us, we must at all times try to readily forgive our neighbours and help people to come out of their sins and weaknesses. The people of Neniveh repented after the prophet escapes from the belly of the beast and ransacked to the assignment God has given to him. The show remorse and repents from their evil ways. Heaven delights in a soul that repents of sin. Luke15:7. If you are living in any form of sin, if people despise you for you sins and are judgemental towards you, I want to assure you that that is not how God feels about you. Only a heart that refuses to repent condemns itself to destruction, God does not condemn it; however like the father of the prodigal son, His arms are always open to receive us back. All we need to do is to turn back from our sins and run back home into the hands of our loving father, God. He loves us all and wants the best for us. Let us not think we are better than others in anyway. Our self righteousness would blind us from when we are backsliding. Let us remain humble into the Lord and ask for his mercies to be renewed in our lives every morning. God bless you for reading. Visit us and worship with us or contacts us on any of our platforms or website: www.altarofgraceministry.org and let us have a chat.
Norbert Batul Upual
Pastor
Published on August 9th 2024