Jonah is not happy. Against all his preconceptions of who God loves and the way God works, God has forgiven the repentant Ninevites. His whole brittle spirituality begins to crack and shatter.
Read: Jonah 3: 10 to 4:1 and 4: 9-11
- who do we most resemble, Jonah or Jesus?
- Jonah has tantrums when he doesn’t get his own way, he demonstrates a deep poverty of spirit and personifies the utter repulsiveness of graceless religion
- God, on the other hand, is infinitely loving, unfailingly patient, extravagantly generous and constantly forgiving.
- If we fail to resemble Jesus, God come to earth to show us God’s love and grace, people will not get a true picture of what God is really like…no wonder sometimes they reject him.
The book of Jonah ends with a question.
God says: “Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?””
We do not know how Jonah responded.
If God asked you a similar question, relevant to people and places in your life how would you respond? When was the last time you felt the way God feels about the people who don’t know him in the place where you live and work? Ask him to show you his heart for them, and be prepared to respond, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Pilgrim Traveller 