God Loves EVERYONE

22 Apr God Loves EVERYONE

Read Jonah 4
Thought for the Day: God is merciful and compassionate!

He got everything he had said he wanted. Jonah arrived in Nineveh, warned the people to repent, and they did. Even the pagan king issued a royal decree ordering the city to fast, turn away from their wickedness, and follow God. Having completed his mission successfully, Jonah should have been thrilled and walked away feeling like a hero. After all, he had saved an entire city from destruction. However, Jonah was angry and felt like a failure. Even though he had done his part, Jonah still was angry at the people of Nineveh. Despite preaching one thing, Jonah had always secretly wanted them to get what he felt was coming to them (not a second chance).

Do we ever find ourselves acting like Jonah? On the one hand, praying for others while secretly harboring jealousy or resentment? If so, we need to remember God has love and compassion for everyone. As Jonah himself observed, “That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.”

Whenever we find ourselves harboring jealousy or resentment, we aren’t being led by the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus taught us to love our enemies and bless even those who persecute us! We must never forget that – we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. All of us (including you and I) are in need of God’s grace and mercy!

Let’s be careful when we start feeling like Jonah. It is never OK to simply hope that others ‘get what is coming to them’. When we start to do this, we need to stop and pray for God to soften our hearts. After all, God wants us to remember that He loves everyone. This includes the people we have a hard time with!

In Christ,
Pastors Stan and David