[Biblemat] A) GOD HAS SPOKEN

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Saturday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here is an
article from my recent files:

GOD HAS SPOKEN

       The prophet Jonah was commissioned to go to Nineveh to
warn them from God.  That city was the capital of Assyria, diso-
bedient Israel's greatest earthly threat.  Unless God revealed it to
him, Jonah could not see God's plan of chastening for Israel at
the hands of the Assyrians.  He had no cover of darkness, no
bodyguards, no elite battalion of soldiers to protect him.  Consid-
er the degree of faith in God that was required for Jonah to go and preach 
doom to that great city.

       Jonah had some problems, and we would do well to exam-
ine our own hearts before we speak or think scornfully of Jonah'
s lack.  Why should we be concerned about the welfare of our
enemies?  Jesus said to love them (Matt. 5:44-48).  Jonah's con-
cern for self may be mirrored in our own lives.  The repentance
of the city and God's mercy granted to them angered Jonah.  Had his worning 
been in vain, or had he wasted his time?  What
is the value of over one hundred and twenty thousand people if
they are your enemies or just people that you don't know?

       Jonah left the city, made himself a shelter, and sat in the shade to 
see what would happen to the city.  God provided a 
plant to shade him, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Then God took away the plant and its comfort, adding hot wind
and sunshine to compound his misery.  Jonah felt more pity for
the plant than he did for the city.  The plant affected him person-
ally in a beneficial way, while the fate of the city was a more indif-
ferent matter to him.  Are we more grieved at a lack of rainfall than we are 
for the lost ones around us?  Do we grieve more for
that for which we have not labored than for souls for whom we
have put forth much effort?  Perhaps we have not labored as hard as Jonah did 
for Nineveh.  Do we wish ill for our enemies
even as we warn them of the wrath to come?  Do we favor them
by giving them warning from God?   We might do well to re-evalu-
ate our priorities and our attitude toward self and toware others.
--------------- Gilbert Alexander.   </HTML>
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