SPEAKER: TAN CHING MENG
MESSAGE: The Story of Jonah
TEXT: Jonah 1-4
Jonah is commanded by God to announce impending judgment upon Nineveh the capital of the Assyrian Empire, unless the city repents. However Jonah resists God and finds a boat to take him to Tarshish. A storm breaks out, Jonah is thrown into the sea and he is swallowed by a big fish. As the story goes, the fish spits Jonah out on the beach and he makes his way to Nineveh where God’s message is proclaimed, the city repents, and destruction is averted.
Jonah’s story has a number of lessons for us:
1. Our God is sovereign and he does as he pleases. As Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in heaven; and he does whatever he pleases.” He also calls whom he pleases to fulfil his purposes.This means that nothing thwarts God’s plans. Even Jonah’s disobedience does not change God’s purposes. Just as God pursues Jonah, we need to learn not to run away from God for there is no escaping God’s presence anyway.
2. Our God is compassionate. He has a missionary heart and wants nations to be saved. We need to show compassion as well to those who are lost who may not even have the first chance to hear about Jesus. Here, God gave the city a second chance to repent. In the same way God also gave Jonah a second chance. Jonah 3:1 – “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time” In spite of his failure and subsequent bad attitude, again God showed Jonah kindness and did not give up on him. God’s kindness should lead us back to him and not turn us away even when we are faced with difficulties and failure.
3. Many people may not believe in the God of the Bible. But they too have a conscience and can still respond to the display of God’s power and grace. The sailors were unbelievers, but in their hour of distress, they ‘feared God’ and responded more righteously than Jonah. We must remember that God often works through unbelievers and reveals himself to them as well.
4. God’s concern for the lost in every nation should spur us to examine our own prejudices. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he dismissed the Assyrians as unworthy and too wicked to be saved. In our day, Christians sometimes hold prejudiced views against those who are not of their own ethnic background or religious faith. The story of God’s compassion must lead us to review our own attitudes to the different races and foreigners in our country.
May God instruct us to be obedient to his call.
Tan Ching Meng is an Elder of Hope EFC, KL, and he works for MSL Properties.
No comments:
Post a Comment