Today's Devotional

Brought to you by Prayer Warrior Jon Vasgar

                                                                                                 "Temporary"

Verses: Jonah 3:3 "So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD." (NKJV) It's amazing what happens when God works. Jonah finally gave up on running and submitted to God's command. He went to Nineveh and delivered the message from God. When he did, what happened next was both exciting and tragic. Jonah 3:5 tells us how the Ninevites reacted: "So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them." (NKJV) When God's will is followed, look at what happens! The entire city is described as turning. So dramatic was the turn, that God didn't destroy the city. It's amazing what God can do through just one person when they submit to Him.

What I see as tragic is Jonah's response to the Ninevites not being destroyed. You'd think he'd rejoice that so many people got saved, but he acted in a way that should dismay you. Jonah 4:1 "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry." Angry over salvation?

It gets worse. God provided Jonah with a shade tree that grew up overnight. Then, in the heat of the morning, God killed the same tree. Jonah was very upset and threw a huge pity party of the death of a tree. Jonah 4:9-11 "Then God said to Jonah, '[Is it] right for you to be angry about the plant?' And he said, '[It is] right for me to be angry, even to death!' But the LORD said, 'You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock?"'

Ah, but he's not alone. I know I'm guilty of this. You see someone in church. You don't like the way they look, their lifestyle, their smell, or perhaps just the way they talk. Rather than walk up to them as God is telling you to do (the Great Commission doesn't play favorites), we would rather ignore them. I'm not saying you all do this, but I am guilty of it. What we are doing is saying, "I'd rather you never get saved and go to hell because I'm not interested in being friendly and showing you Jesus' love." That's what I am saying when I refuse to acknowledge a visitor's presence and make myself be friendly.

We'd rather not see our reputation perish by being seen with 'that kind' of person, then reach out and share God's love. How can we say that we walk with God when His very Word commands that we love? I John 2:9-10 "He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him." (NKJV)

Our reputation is like the gourd that God caused to spring up and then pass away. How important is popularity, really? Especially in comparison to those lost souls, heading on a fast track to hell without hope. God says, "How can you be so concerned about that which is fleeting when that which is eternal means so much more?" That's the whole point He's making with Jonah. The story makes me sad. First, Jonah runs away, then he's stuck in a fish's belly. Then, after seeing God work in a miraculous way, he's still mad because those "dirty, rotten sinners" got to see salvation.

Would that Jonah would have been like Jesus, willing to set foot in Samaria and share the Gospel with anyone who had ears to hear. Matthew 9:10 "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples." I pray that we can be like that. Are hurting people willing to come to us for prayer? Or do they stay away because we don't associate with them? I'm not advocating we become best friends and agree with their lifestyle. Being a friend doesn't mean that. What I am saying is, take the time to love them. Loving them means taking the Gospel to them.

Prayer:

Lord, I pray that You would point out the hurting ones to us. Those who we would normally ignore. Open our eyes to see them and to hurt for them. To desire to see them come to know You. To set them free from the endless cycle of sin that only leads to death. Give us Your heart for the lost. Help us to not be like Jonah, but instead to be committed to Your Great Commission to seek out those in the hedges and ditches. To reach out to all who need Your love. Give us Your grace and remove our prejudices, Lord.

Amen

Song: I have two today, both are fitting in my mind for this topic.