Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (NRSV)
Read Jonah 3:1-5, 10 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 3The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, Verse 2"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." Verse 3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Verse 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
Verse 5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. Verse 10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
Devotion
Years ago, a star player for the Minnesota Vikings football team picked up a loose ball and ran the wrong way. His intentions were good, but his mistake was costly for his team; he scored a goal for his opponents. Jonah, in response to God’s call to go to Nineveh and preach, went the wrong way, too. But his intentions were not good; he was trying to run away from God. He paid the price for his disobedience and, for a time, brought suffering to the crew of the ship on which he had taken passage.
But God was good to give Jonah a second chance and was merciful toward the people of Nineveh who responded to Jonah’s preaching. God is good to us, too, and can use us in spite of our failures. And, unlike Jonah, we can rejoice when we witness God’s mercy toward others and experience it ourselves.
Prayer
Lord, we thank you that you are “merciful and gracious and slow to anger.” Amen.