Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. One of the readings for last Sunday was taken from the book of Jonah the reluctant prophet. We all have heard sermons from the book of Jonah on the futility of running from Almighty God, yet we all have done it at some time in our lives, myself included! We do not have to board a ship and head for a distant port - we simply do it with our minds and our hearts! We actually tune out the "still small voice" of Almighty God! We ignore His voice calling us to His service! Jesus, the Christ, referred to the story of Jonah and the great fish when He said to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:39-41 (NLT): "...Only an evil, faithless generation would ask for a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the Prophet Jonah. (v. 40) For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so, I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (v. 41) The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on Judgment Day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here - and you refuse to repent." Jonah’s "revival" was a resounding success as every single person, even the king himself, had repented! You must know that anytime someone can get a politician to repent, he has accomplished something! Jonah should have been ecstatic that every single heart had been changed. However, look at what he did next! In Jonah 3:10 (NLT), we read, "When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, He had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction He had threatened." Then, in Jonah 4:1-4 (NLT), we read, "This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry. (v. 2) So he complained to the Lord about it: ’Didn’t I say before I left home that You would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that You were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily You could cancel Your Plans for destroying these people. (v. 3) J ust kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen.’ (v. 4) The Lord replied, ’Is it right for you to be angry about this?’" Jonah was angry because Almighty God had changed His Mind about destroying Nineveh, and God simply confronted Jonah about his anger. The late great Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian, and teacher, Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881), once said, "And Jonah stalked to his shaded seat and waited for God to come around to his way of thinking...And God is still waiting for a host of Jonahs to come around to His [God’s] way of loving." Almighty God even loved Jonah - hard heart and all! His Grace is sufficient for all!
In His Amazing Grace,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3D4oOzx8o
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