Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city–a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
When God saw what they had done and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had treated.
A Thought
Jonah from the inside of the great fish, prayed to the Lord vowing to make good what God had told him to do–go to Nineveh and preach against their wickedness. After the fish vomited Jonah to dry land, Jonah obeyed when God spoke a second time. The first day when Jonah entered Nineveh and spoke God’s message, the people believed God’s warning. The king and his nobles declared a fast with everyone in sackcloth calling out to God. God had compassion and did not destroy them.
Jonah had spent three days in the great fish. After Jesus had been crucified on the cross, he spent three days in lower part of the earth and released the righteous souls that had been held captive. We need to be messengers of Jesus the Christ to others that they too make receive the love of God’s mercy and grace found in his Son.
Our Prayer
Father thank you for sending messengers of your word of truth, found in Jesus Christ, to set us free from sin and wickedness. Awaken us by the power of the Holy Spirit to be your messengers of hope that others may believe and accept new life found in you. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.
