Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying. Jonah 1:1
When you read the book of Jonah, who do you identify yourself with? The book is very readable because it tells an interesting story with plenty of excitement. And it has a great cast of characters. You wouldn’t want to be Jonah, because, even though he was a prophet of God, he turns tail and runs when he receives a difficult assignment. And when he does complete his assignment, he shows no compassion for a city facing destruction. The ship’s crew were good men who worked hard and were thankful for having their lives spared. What about the citizens of Nineveh, noted for their wickedness but willing to repent to save their lives and their city?
You and I are like those folks in Nineveh. Living in a world headed for certain destruction, we were brought by the Holy Spirit’s striving to appreciate the Gospel message. Like the Ninevehites, we humbled ourselves and accepted God’s condemnation and then His forgiveness. Although we don’t read of the people in that great city celebrating their deliverance from destruction, there is little doubt that they did. And we celebrate too, every week, by holding a feast where we remember the great price that our Lord paid to provide our salvation.
Today, we marvel at the amazing deliverance we have received. Like the people in Nineveh, we fully deserved the destruction that was coming. And our deliverance is even greater than having our city spared from judgment. Our souls have been spared eternal wrath, and we are thankful. Today as we break the bread and drink the cup, we acknowledge the work that went into our deliverance. We appreciate that the One who was sent to deliver us had far greater compassion than Jonah had for Nineveh. Our Deliverer took the very judgment that we had earned upon Himself. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/nIEM90j8sPY