Love God Greatly - JonahSample
God´s will vs. my will
God gave Jonah a simple command: go to Nineveh and preach to the Ninevites…and Jonah did exactly the opposite. He fled to Joppa and looked for a ship going to Tarshish. To Jonah, it wasn´t a simple command from God. It required a trip to an Assyrian town to talk about God´s love. The Assyrians were Israel´s enemy and Jonah didn´t want to give the Ninevites the opportunity to repent. He would rather see the city, and its people, destroyed.
Jonah didn´t understand God´s order and tried to impose his own will. He thought he knew better than God. How arrogant! When he made the decision to flee to Tarshish, he was trying to flee from God. And He forgot there is no place where God´s will, God´s love, and God´s mercy won´t reach us.
How often do we think that we can pick and choose the pieces of God´s Word we want to obey? How often do we think that we can flee from the presence of God, or that there are places where we can run from God´s will?
When God gives a command, we have to obey, even when we don´t understand it or even if we think it´s not fair or right. And, like Jonah learned, there is no place where God’s will, love, and mercy won’t reach us, too.
Heavenly Father, help me trust your ways. Oh, how I want to live out Your perfect will for my life every single day! Give me the discernment to know Your will and obey the commands You give me. Help me remember there is no place where I can hide from You. Amen.
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About this Plan
Regardless if we are an outsider, like the people of Nineveh, or an insider, like Jonah, to the Kingdom of God, the book of Jonah is a reminder that God goes to great lengths to demonstrate His grace and mercy to all. Be encouraged as you read this powerful story of God’s relentless grace and mercy, and may you never forget that no one is beyond redemption. May we all seek to love the loveless in our lives.
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