Daily Devotional for Saturday, August 1

Jonah Rebuked

“And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:11.
I recently watched on television the sentencing of an individual that had committed four murders. Before the sentence was handed down, the impact statements of the family members were heard. Some of the family members wanted nothing but bad for this individual that had committed these horrific crimes. Some said they believed in God and that they thought there was a special place in hell for this person. There was, however, one person that said that she hoped that this person would one day repent of his sins and put his trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This person was not accepting of his actions, but was able to love him enough to share the gospel with him.
Jonah was not happy that Nineveh had repented and was spared the destruction that the Lord had said would happen. As a result of this, Jonah essentially had a pity party for himself (Jonah 4:1-8). It would appear that Jonah hated the Ninevites and did not want them to repent; he would have preferred them to be destroyed. As a prophet of God, Jonah was not displaying a love for others and did not appreciate God’s mercy and forgiveness. God had to rebuke Jonah for his actions (verse 11), and wanted him to be God’s representative, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world”(Philippians 2:15). Jonah needed to be God’s light in the world, not the agent of doom and destruction, therefore God had to rebuke him for his conduct and mind-set.

REFLECTION
Has God had to challenge your way of thinking towards sinners and rebuke you? Are you shining as God’s light and loving people enough to look past their sin and see their need?

Tim Chambers