Sabbath, March 13, 2010
Jonah 3:10-4:5
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. (ESV)
by Emily Graffius
Jonah was used by God to spare a whole city from calamity. This shows us many things about God’s compassionate character and that He sees our hearts and actions. Although Jonah may not have been as happy about the outcome for the people, God still used him.
In the same way, God uses us even though our hearts are not perfectly pure and sinless. Thankfully, God’s character and consistency are not based on us. He is abounding in love. He is gracious and slow to anger. Praise God! How has he been compassionate and gracious to you recently, not treating you as your sins deserve?
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2010, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.
