Jonah 1-4

If we’re honest, sometimes we just don’t feel like engaging our neighbor. Perhaps we’re tired. Perhaps their dog gets into our yard, what a nuisance. Perhaps a coworker has a foul mouth, we don’t want that around the kids! Perhaps they have such differing lifestyles and values that we don’t think we have much in common. 

Jonah was a reluctant messenger, many of us know this story by heart. He was a prophet in Israel that God called to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the brutal enemies of Israel at the time. Jonah didn’t just stay home in Israel where it was safe and he was surrounded by followers of Yahweh, he resisted and fled in the opposite direction on a ship. A great storm arose, Jonah was thrown overboard, swallowed up by a fish, which led to his repentance. When Jonah finally traveled to Ninenveh and delivered the message God gave him, the entire city repented. Jonah struggled with the idea that God would have compassion and mercy on people he not only didn’t like, but people that were his enemies. 

God’s love is for all people, not just the insiders. I wonder who in my own life is far from God, someone that I might naturally be tempted to avoid or write-off. How might I step into that space and show them God’s love?

In a postmodern world, where many people distrust Christians, Jonah reminds us that no obstacle is too big for God. Even when his people resist, God is always building and strengthening his kingdom. God calls us to love and engage our neighbors, even those who seem farthest away, hardest to understand, or most “against us.” Jonah learned that our role is not to decide who deserves God’s mercy and love, but to join him in extending it. 

Dear Jesus, forgive me for the times I have drawn a line in the sand instead of crossing barriers to share your love. Forgive me for when I have fallen into an “us against them” mentality. Give me your eyes to see people. Put someone in my path today whom I can show your kindness to. Amen.