EXPAND TO READ: JONAH 3 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 5): Although this verse is speaking about the men of Nineveh being believers of You, which I am, it also shows their faithfulness to You through the potential for hardships. When faced with the word from Jonah about the impending destruction to come to Nineveh, they immediately halted their evil ways and began to make self-sacrifices to You instead of brushing it off. This is a big issue of mine that I have faced throughout the years. I often am met with something from You that I need to change or do and instead of making the self-sacrifice to You in the moment, I opt to just “brush it off” in a sense. Please forgive me for this disobedience, Father. Forgive me for often taking the easy way out instead of aligning myself with Your will for my life.
PROMISE (verse 10): This verse may not be a promise specifically, but it does show that sometimes Your threats can be reversed even though we may perceive them as irreversible promises. For example, through Jonah, You threatened Nineveh with destruction in 40 days. They band together to perform self-sacrificing through fasting and such as a result of this. As a result of their faithfulness and self-sacrifice, You chose to relent from the impending destruction and show them grace and mercy. Thank You so much for Your faithfulness, Father. Thank You so much for Your mercy, recognizing that we are not always perfect and sometimes just need a bit of a nudge back in the right direction.
ATTITUDE (verses 6-8): The people of Nineveh were so willing to listen to Your word spoken through Jonah, that even the King of Nineveh made self-sacrifices to please You. Help me to have an attitude like this, Father. Help me to tear down the walls and barriers I’ve put up in my own life that often prevent me from truly following Your word. Help me to be better at making self-sacrifices when needed, Father, so that what I do in this life is pleasing to You.
COMMAND (verses 1-3): In these verses, Your command to Jonah is quite simple yet oh so often very difficult for me to follow: do what You told Him to do. Jonah struggled with this in prior chapters, even going so far as to try and run/hide from You. Eventually, though, he finally chose to follow Your command, leading to Your mercy being shown to Nineveh. If it weren’t for Jonah finally following through with doing what You asked him to do, then Nineveh may have been brought into destruction just as You threatened of them, without any chance for turning from their evil ways.
EXAMPLE (verse 9): The King of Nineveh made a self-sacrifice and also put it on the entire city to make the same self-sacrifices to You, Father. He felt that there was a possibility that they might be shown some mercy from You if they quickly and faithfully turned from their evil ways and showed You how much they truly love You. Through their example of faithfulness in that moment, You showed us an example of Your grace and mercy by lifting the threat of destruction from them, allowing them to continue living.
*DAILY NOTE: This was such a powerful Scripture in only 10 verses. I want to thank You, Father, for showing such a powerful example of Your grace and mercy if we are faithful. Even if we have been stuck in our evil ways for a long period of time, You show us that You are still faithful to us and will show us Your grace and mercy if we repent and turn from our evil ways. Thank You for such an amazing testimony through Jonah and Nineveh of this, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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