“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.”

The story of Jonah is well known. You have a guy that the Lord sent on a mission, but rather than obey, he ran from God - not a good idea. Then there is the whale who swallowed Jonah, allowing him to rethink his position and leading him to call on the Lord for mercy - a better idea. Finally, Jonah gets to Nineveh, proclaims a message that if they did not repent, God would deal with them. They actually believed God and “declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” Finally, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” (Jonah 3)

You would think that Jonah would have been thankful for the success of his mission. But no, he was “greatly displeased and became angry with God” for showing compassion to the Ninevites. After all, in his mind, the Ninevites were undeserving of God’s grace and were enemies of the Israelites. He deserved God’s grace, but the Ninevites didn’t.

Think about this. We live in a divided world - politically, socially, religiously and morally. It is all too easy for us to believe that we deserve God but others don’t. I have even had people say to me, “why would we send people to the Middle East to share the Gospel - they are Muslims.” Or, “I won’t associate with such and such a group because their lifestyle is sinful.” When we do this, we are thinking like Jonah rather than like God who said to him, “Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” 

Why did God care? Because the Ninevites, like everyone else, had been made in God’s image. They mattered to God, even if not to Jonah. Our God is a God of compassion who desires everyone to turn to Him and who calls us to carry the Good news to all, whether they are like us or not.

As you walk through your week, think about those who you look down on, don’t want to be around and who you think less of than yourself. Then ask God to give you a God heart rather than a Jonah heart. Pray for those who are far from God and be willing to engage with them, rather than condemning them in your heart. If God can awake the city of Nineveh, He can awake your city and those who you know who are far from God. That is the heart of God.

PRAYER

Father, give me a heart for those that I don’t think deserve Your grace. Give me a heart that has compassion and love for those who are far from You, and help me to find ways to engage with people whom You love, even in their distance from You. I pray that they would experience the same grace that You have given to me. Amen.