KEY VERSE: “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (JONAH 4:11).
People are often passionate about different things and are offended when those things are violated or suffer harm due to the excesses of other people. They would stop at nothing to seek punishment or reparations for such offences.
Jonah, the recalcitrant prophet, had become disconsolate when God showed mercy to Nineveh after his evangelistic outreach in the city. He did not understand why God spared the wicked Ninevites who had now turned from their evil ways to serve the true God. He complained to God that this was the reason he initially fled from carrying out the assignment. He waited to see whether God would change His mind and destroy the people. But God was yet to teach him a great lesson on the depth of His mercies. Overnight, God groomed a plant that provided Jonah with shelter in the outskirts of Nineveh. He found succour under the plant. He, therefore, became angry the next day when he discovered that the plant had inexplicably dried up. Bereft of the comforting shelter of the plant, Jonah was at the mercy of the scorching desert sun. He became angry and got into a futile argument with God. God had to gently chastise him, telling him that if he could feel so much concern for a plant, which he did not cultivate, how much more should he show empathy towards the people of Nineveh who had now turned to God because of his labour in carrying out God’s assignment.
We should be concerned with the plight of the men and women in the world who are lost in sins, and are headed to a doomed eternity. We should show compassion towards them and give them the message of salvation through Christ. We must be passionate and urgent with the task of reaching as many as possible as we can before time runs out on them. This is the reason God left us on earth after saving us from sin.
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