Sometimes I Feel Like Jonah
- Now Think On This
by Steve Martin
"When
God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented
concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He
did not do it. But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry." Jonah
3:10-4:1.” NASU
Yes, sometimes I feel like Jonah. I can get tired
(angry?) of the continual lack of repentance in our land, and the seemingly
non-judgment or inaction of the Lord regarding it. When will enough be enough,
and it just end.
I certainly can also understand the disciples
reaction about a village’s response, when they asked Jesus if they should call
down fire from heaven. As recorded in Luke 9:51-56, “When the days were
approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He
sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans
to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was
traveling toward Jerusalem.
When His disciples James and John saw this, they
said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and
consume them?" But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not
know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy
men's lives, but to save them." And they went on to another village.” (NASU)
In the first Scripture above written about Jonah and
Nineveh, when the Lord called Jonah to travel to that city, to warn the people of
impending judgement, he ran the other way, believing why bother, for the Lord
would be merciful anyway. He did not want to do what it was going to take, to
tell it like it was, as the word from the Lord was to be delivered. The prophet
would have rather let them perish for the evil that they had committed. After
all, they deserved it.
And the disciples, after seeing that the Samaritans
were not receiving Jesus into their midst, because He was a Jew travelling to
Jerusalem, they wanted to have them burned alive. This was even after Jesus had
been with His team for three years, and had already resurrected. Surely they
must have known the Lord’s heart of compassion, and were to be as He had taught
them of His love, “…for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but
to save them.” Luke 9:56
How often I find myself just wanting the Lord to quickly
now put an end to all the sin, all the evil, all the wicked actions that keep going
on and on. When Lord, will you finally put a stop to that which is so opposed
to You and Your commands, and bring Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven?
Will it be soon?
But once again I must realize that the Lord saved me
as a sinner, waiting for that time when I came to repentance and acceptance of
His substitutional, sacrificial death on the cross. He called to me, as He put
people in my life who were willing not to judge me with fire and brimstone, but
loved me enough to share the Good News of the Gospel with me. I am eternally
grateful they did.
As we are now the Lord’s hands and feet on earth, we
have been called to share His love to a dying world of sinners, that they too
might receive Him, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, into their lives. He has
been patiently waiting for those who will yet hear, repent, and receive eternal
salvation. He has commissioned us to be the ones to tell them.
Judgment is coming. These last days are revealing
the time is drawing to an end. Prophetic words from centuries gone by are
coming to pass in our lifetime, before the final preparation and ingathering takes
place.
My prayer is that you and I will not allow our hearts
to grow cold, and let the dying die, while we wait for His plans to be
fulfilled.
“And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed
that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,'
and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that
you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is
not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And
there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these
are the beginning of sorrows.”
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and
kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then
many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then
many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will
abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be
saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a
witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:4-14 NKJV
May the Holy Spirit give us the love of God for the
nations. May we pray, seek His face, and do as we have been instructed – to be
bold in proclaiming His Word of salvation.
May His Kingdom come. Maranatha Lord Jesus.
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
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Now Think On This #179
“Sometimes I Feel Like Jonah” by Steve Martin
Date: In the year of
our Lord 2015 (09.15.15) Tuesday at 6:00 pm in Charlotte, NC
All previous editions of Now
Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on the
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Think On This
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