God cares for this world and He has made it the task of believers to share the message of Jesus Christ. Jonah made a choice not to tell the people of Nineveh God was about to end their existence on this planet.
Jonah had heard of the Ninevites, their idolatrous worship, and their extreme cruelty to prisoners of war. Jonah had decided these people were hopeless and would never turn to God. Have you ever made that decision about a person, that judgement? God calls us to tell, not judge, and we can learn this lesson from the story of Jonah.
Jonah did not want to confront the wickedness of Nineveh. He probably reasoned that God had judged them already and he did not need to warn them. But, God wanted them to have a warning, and He wanted them to have a chance to repent. It seems Jonah, the prophet, was afraid to do the very thing God had called him to do, to prophesy-to speak God’s word to the people.* Jonah forgot something very important, when God calls us to a task, He empowers us for the task.
When Jonah finally got to Nineveh, by means of a transportation method truly ahead of its time (who was his travel agent), the people were prepared for the message. The words were simple, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed," and the results were miraculous. The people believed, and repented. The king of Nineveh issued a proclamation which said, "Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." (Jonah 3:8-9) Verse 10 tells us that God did not "bring upon them the destruction he had threatened."
Is there someone you have considered hopeless of ever changing? Don’t give up. God will go ahead of you and prepare their heart. All you have to do is speak the simple message He will give you and a life will be transformed. You may be the very one God chooses to use in rescuing someone from eternal destruction.
"Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Jo
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*Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary