Creator, Father, King #154

I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.

TODAY’S DEVOTION IS ABOUT big fish and repenting.

No, this isn’t to correct you for that time you hooked a big one at the lake during catch-and-release season and stealthily kept it for dinner. That’s for you and the local Fish and Wildlife Department to work out.

We’re talking about the book of Jonah!

Jonah was a prophet in Israel during the eighth century BC, when Assyria was the world’s dominant superpower. So Jonah must have been shocked when God told him to go northeast to Nineveh, one of Assyria’s chief cities, and announce God’s judgment against its wicked people (Jonah 1:2).

Instead, Jonah disobeyed God and boarded a ship headed west toward Tarshish. But God sent a huge storm, and only when the sailors threw Jonah overboard did the squall subside. Then God miraculously sent a “great fish” (1:17) that swallowed Jonah and spit him on land three days later.

When Jonah arrived at Nineveh, he preached a powerful message of repentance to the people. Then he waited outside the city—almost giddily—for God’s fiery judgment to descend from heaven.

But it never came. The Ninevites repented, and God showed compassion on them.

Jonah was incensed. “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD?” he complained. “That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen” (4:2-3).

What’s It Mean?

Jonah should have been thrilled with God’s mercy on 120,000 people (4:11). Instead, he cruelly wanted to watch them burn. God chastised him for this sinful, callous attitude (4:4, 9-11).

Our posture toward others should mirror God’s compassionate heart. There is no one “bad enough” to be outside the bounds of his love if they turn to Christ. We should actively seek the salvation of the lost because God “does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4). Colossians 3:12 instructs us to “put on . . . compassionate hearts” (ESV).

Don’t be like Jonah! Seek ways to show God’s compassion to others around you, especially unbelievers.

Now What?

Read the book of Jonah for a vivid look at God’s mercy and compassion.

Did You Know?

Approximately thirty to sixty years after Jonah’s visit to Nineveh, Assyria conquered Israel (722 BC).