I am sure most people know the story of Jonah being swallowed up by a huge fish. There may be some people who do not know why or how he ended up there. Jonah was to tell the people of the city of Ninevah about God because their city was wicked. Jonah looked down on "those people" because of the way they lived. He decided even though God had told him to, he was not going to step foot in their city and there was no way he was going to tell them about God's love and grace. So Jonah fled on a ship to get as far away as he could from Ninevah. However, no far how far and fast a person runs, God still knows where they are. So Jonah ended up being thrown overboard and in a fish's belly. After living in a stinky fish, Jonah decided to obey God. However instead of being happy that the Ninevites found God, Jonah had a bad attitude because he thought they deserved punishment instead of another chance. So Jonah went and pouted and the bible says.... Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Do we show compassion and love to ALL people? Do we think we are better than others because we know God and they do not? We need not to be like Jonah, instead we need to be more like Jesus. We need to love all people no matter what sin we see in their lives. Our hating people who are not like us, or our pride of thinking our sin is somewhat not as bad as "those people" is just as ugly and disgusting to God as whatever they are doing. We need to remember God loves all people. Just as he was concerned for Jonah, and the Ninevites, he is concerned for us and the people who do not know Him. We need to remember that everyone deserves God's love and not just the ones we deem worthy. His grace and love is big enough for us all.
I was just watching a video of Francis Chan who talked about how Christians can be like that. Comparing themselves saying "at least I'm not like them!". Great post and I completely agree. My heart hurts for people who don't have Jesus in their lives. I was just talking to a pastor a few weeks ago and I told him "I don't know how they do it!" (live without Jesus). Knowing His love and mercy and having His guidance is the greatest thing I can ever imagine and that's why I feel sad when people don't live with Christ. I lived without Him most of my life and still celebrate the day I was born-again as the greatest day of my life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! I feel the same way as you. Have you read the Crazy Love book by Francis Chan? If not, you should. I think you would enjoy it.
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