"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.' So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh. according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent." Jonah 3:1-3 Jonah has finally landed on dry land. Can you imagine the way he must have squinted his eyes against the bright light of the sun? Or the way he must have rejoiced at the sand between his toes and the beautiful gift of fresh air? The Jonah that was now walking on dry land was not the same Jonah that had been swallowed by the giant fish. This time, Jonah receives the same message from God, but this time he has a totally different reaction. He arises. He goes. And he preaches God's message to Nineveh. And what I love about this chapter is this simple truth: God is a God of second chances. Have you ever blown it big time? We all have, after all. And where would any of us be without grace? Without a second chance? (Even ten thousands of chances) But since we all know that we blow it sometimes and make mistakes, where do we go from there? How do we accept God's second chance? Well, we can certainly learn a lot about this from Jonah. But we can also learn a few things from the people of Nineveh too and their reaction to Jonah's shocking message... First, recognize your sin. If we are sinning, but we convince ourselves that it's "not that bad," or it's "not really sin," then we're deceiving ourselves and staying stuck in the same place. In order to move forward in repentance, you must acknowledge that you have committed wrong and are sinning against God. Maybe it's the consequences of your sin that smack you in the face and show you just how much you've messed up. Or maybe it's someone in your life pointing out the wrong, as Jonah did for the people of Nineveh. When you become aware of your sin, recognize it and admit it. Second, confess and ask for forgiveness. Last week we talked about Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish. Pray to God too and confess what you've been doing wrong. Admit to Him that you can't do things on your own anymore and you need Him. Ask for His amazing, unending mercy and forgiveness in your life. Third, turn from your sins. When the king of Nineveh heard Jonah's message he commanded that everyone in Nineveh would fast, pray, and turn from their sins. And in 3:10 we read that, "Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way." We can't just acknowledge our sin, ask for forgiveness, and keep on pursuing our sin without any remorse. When we sin, we should grieve because we have grieved the Holy Spirit living in us. This remorse should cause us to turn our backs on the things separating us from God and run back to Him in repentance. None of us are perfect. Trust me. I'm nowhere near perfect at all. And I make mistakes every day. We will all make mistakes. But if you and I turn from our sins and walk one step closer to Christ every day, then we are making progress. Let's make it our goal together to live more like Christ every day. And when we sin--as we will--to seek His forgiveness and make things right. And praise the Lord--oh, praise the Lord--we serve a faithful God. A God of second chances. What did you learn from this chapter of Jonah? Was there a particular verse that stood out to you above the rest? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Bella Morganthal
3/11/2018 05:23:51 pm
Amen! Thank you Grace! :)
Jeanette
3/9/2018 12:00:43 am
I underlined this verse: "God saw what they did; He saw that they had given up their wicked behaviour. So He changed His mind and did not punish them as He had said He would." (3:10)
Bella Morganthal
3/11/2018 05:25:01 pm
Thank you for sharing and reading, Nettie! :) 3/22/2018 04:25:33 pm
This was beautiful and so, so true. God is so merciful, His mercies are new every morning and it's so comforting to know that! You are so right about turning from sin, and the steps we need to take in doing it. Once we turn from it, our relationship with God is perfect again and our communication with Him is so much better. =) Living more like Christ, as you said, is definitely a daily decision - something we all must strive for all the time. =) Comments are closed.
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