Jonah 4: 5-8
Relax, Read and Reflect
Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
Poor Jonah. He doesn’t really get this mercy stuff. He goes to a hill outside of town to watch what will happen. He still hopes that God will change his mind and destroy Nineveh, and he wants to have a front row seat. God provides a vine (quickly) to give him shade from the sun, but then a worm comes and eats the vine. Jonah gets really mad. He is so pissed at God he tells him "it would be better for me to die than live." (I told you Jonah was a drama queen.) Jonah has seen a miracle in the belly of a fish, gone to a pagan foreign land, preached and converted thousands, an now thought he was insignificant. Maybe, he thought he was too significant, and since God did not do what Jonah wanted, he didn’t want to play anymore.
Jonah was so human. We all do the exact same things as Jonah, just not as flamboyantly. We can read and make fun of him, and wonder how he grew so far away from God, but if we can not recognize the same qualities in us, this story fails.
Prayer- Lord, I know that I am not perfect. Even when I mess up and try to rationalize my behavior, I still want your compassion, and your mercy. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
Poor Jonah. He doesn’t really get this mercy stuff. He goes to a hill outside of town to watch what will happen. He still hopes that God will change his mind and destroy Nineveh, and he wants to have a front row seat. God provides a vine (quickly) to give him shade from the sun, but then a worm comes and eats the vine. Jonah gets really mad. He is so pissed at God he tells him "it would be better for me to die than live." (I told you Jonah was a drama queen.) Jonah has seen a miracle in the belly of a fish, gone to a pagan foreign land, preached and converted thousands, an now thought he was insignificant. Maybe, he thought he was too significant, and since God did not do what Jonah wanted, he didn’t want to play anymore.
Jonah was so human. We all do the exact same things as Jonah, just not as flamboyantly. We can read and make fun of him, and wonder how he grew so far away from God, but if we can not recognize the same qualities in us, this story fails.
Prayer- Lord, I know that I am not perfect. Even when I mess up and try to rationalize my behavior, I still want your compassion, and your mercy. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
posted by Steve Killam TMTL | 6:05 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home