Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
A Time of Repentance
Jonah 1:1-17
“But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” Jonah 1:3 
Matthew Henry once said, “Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it.” In today’s passage, we look at the story of Jonah, one that is common for us all as we have heard the story since childhood. Jonah’s story is one of repentance. Nineveh was the most important city in Assyria. Nineveh was also a powerful and wicked city. Their list of atrocities was a long list of deeds that angered God. Their atrocities angered Jonah as well, but God’s reaction and Jonah’s reaction were two complete opposites. God wanted to extend mercy to them and have them repent, but for Jonah, he did not want God to forgive them but would have rather seen them be destroyed.
As much as Nineveh needed to learn about repentance, Jonah needed to learn about repentance just as much. Sin is the absence of God in one’s life, and Jonah did what he could do to try to escape from God. Repentance is turning away from sin and self. Therefore, repentance is about returning to God, not being absent or away from Him. Therefore, Jonah needed repentance. Even before boarding that boat, Jonah had already sinned by allowing his hatred of the Ninevites to overtake the compassion that he was supposed to have for them. He knew that if he preached to the Ninevites, they would repent and God would forgive them, but he believed that he should control who should and shouldn’t be forgiven. Yet, that experience of running away was needed, because he could not preach a message of repentance, if he did not repent of his own sins.
As Christians, how often do we believe that we get to play God and decide who should and shouldn't be forgiven? To repent means to turn back to God, only when we are with God can we truly extend forgiveness to others.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we have sinned. Just as Jonah did, we try to dictate who should or shouldn't receive forgiveness. When someone does repent, it often times bothers us that you would forgive such a person, while forgetting that we were once that person. Please forgive us, and enable us to be vessels used by you to bring others to you. Amen.
Thought for the Day: To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.


Mat Stan Samuel, St Pauls MTC, Dallas

Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
  Constant, patient and welcoming love of God   St. Luke 15: 11-32  V.21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ The parable of the ‘Prodigal son’ is one of the most frequently quoted parables that Jesus told His disciples. The parable contains the rich mine of human virtues and emotions. This parable is lived and re-lived in progressing civilizations from time immemorial and continuing. It brings out in vivid detail the pathetic depth of human sinfulness and the glorious heights of God’s forgiveness.      As a story of human nature, fathers are generally merciful to their children in any circumstance. They are very protective and are eager to provide for and secure the lives of their offspring. Jesus is telling this parable to underscore the superlative love of God to His children. The nature of such love is reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 7:11. Humankind wh...
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Revelation for Liberation Acts 27:18-26 Sherine Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 20  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. “After winter comes the summer.  After night comes the dawn.  And after every storm, there comes clear open skies” so said a Scottish clergyman from the 1600s. It’s been said, that hope can sometimes be the most dangerous weapon.  However, it’s sometimes the hardest weapon to carry when you’re living with the loss of a loved one, something that almost feels like a terrible nightmare that’ll never go away.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry when day in and day out no one seems to hear or see those tears that are shed or silent cries that are made during a heartfelt prayer. It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you see your loved one lying on that hospital bed.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you search and seek out answers to tel...
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
PRIESTHOOD: THE ANOINTED MINISTRY Exodus 40:12-16 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting... wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest (Exodus 40: 12-13). Priesthood among the people of God was a divine command and initiation. God wanted some people to be separated for the special ministry among his people. God appointed Aaron and his descendants to take up this kind of ministry among the people of God. Priests are always separated and appointed as channels that connect God with his people. All throughout the history of Israel, priests played an important role in connecting people with God and to lead and guide them in the statutes of God. But there are incidents in the Bible where the priests failed in their duties and that led the people to go away from God. So the priests have a special and significant ministry to perform in this world among his people. Two important things...
Read more