Jonah was a reluctant preacher when it came to the job that he was told to do. Jonah was told to go and preach to the most loathed people of his day, but he thought that it would be better if God just went ahead and condemned them. God disagreed with that plan and made Jonah go and preach to the people of Nineveh. It was easy for Jonah to hate them because of the things that they were known for doing to prisoners. It was easy for Jonah to hate the people of Nineveh because they were different from him. God relented from the punishment when the people repented.
Just like Jonah, it is easy for us to hate. We don’t always think of it as hating, but we definitely are not loving others when we let them continue in sin. There are also some who have the same mindset as Jonah when he said “…was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness. One who relents from doing harm,” (Jonah 4:2 NKJV). We may not realize it, but we may be scared that sharing our faith will lead to results. We are scared that those results will change things about us. That cannot be a fear that we allow to overcome us. Through God we are more than conquerors.
Thanks – JD
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