Should We Not Be Concerned?

When God saw what [the Ninevites] did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened. But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” “Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left…Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (Jonah 3:10–4:1, 4, 11, NIV 1984).

My Musings – Why was Jonah displeased and angry? “I [Jonah] knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. (Jonah 4:2, NIV 1984). Jonah did not want grace, He wanted judgment.

It is very easy for us to be critical of Jonah’s response. But do “[we] who preach against stealing, do [we] steal? [Do we] who say that people should not commit adultery, do [we] commit adultery? [Do we] who abhor idols, do [we] rob temples? {Do we] who brag about the law, do [we] dishonor God by breaking the law?” (Romans 2:21–23, NIV 1984). Do we view our sins less evil than the sins of others? Their sins less deserving of God’s compassion and grace than ours? Undeserving of forgiveness?

My Advice – Who are we to “shut the Kingdom of Heaven in men’s faces…nor …let those enter who are trying [or might want] to?” (Matthew 23:13, NIV 1984). As I have said more than once in my musings, there is no sin so small that Jesus didn’t have to die for it, and no sin so great that He did not die for it. “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12, NIV 1984).

And “that is what [all of us] were. But [we] were washed, [we] were sanctified, [we] were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:10–11, NIV 1984). So then, “have [we] any right to be angry [with] people who cannot tell their right hand from their left…Should [we] not be concerned about [them]?” While they have breath, it is still possible they can be “turned from their evil ways.” Do not begrudge them of what we have already have. We did not earn it any more than “they” can. But they can receive God’s compassion (grace), just like we did.

If you are one of the “they,” the offer of grace still stands. Turn to Christ. God will relent and He “[will] not bring upon [you] the destruction He [has] threatened,” for all who reject His gift of salvation from “destruction.” “For the wages of sin is [eternal] death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NIV 1984).