Now, it is equally clear that Jonah’s concern is about anything except what concerns the Lord: in Jonah 1:3, we find him concerned with charting a boat trip to Tarshish, a prime vacation destination in his day (and in the opposite direction of Nineveh); Jonah is also concerned by God’s annoying tendency to show mercy to repentant screw-ups, (Jonah 4:1-3) and finally—almost comically—we watch him throw a pity party when a shady plant withers above his head (Jonah 4:5-8).
How could Jonah, a righteous prophet of the Lord, be so out of step with the concerns of his God? The same Bible commentary ventures a possible answer to this question by posing another question—one that has stuck with me for quite some time:
“Is Jonah afraid that all his efforts to be righteous would not separate him from the people of Nineveh
What about us? What are we concerned about as followers of the living God? Preserving ourselves? Or serving the needs of those around us? Those who—we’re soon to discover the closer we get to them—look a lot more like ourselves than we would expect.
“But the LORD said, ‘You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh
Aren't we a bunch? By His compassion may the desires of my heart line up with the desires of God's heart. Back to when the blog was down...
ReplyDelete“11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
15 Then”… Only then did Naaman acknowledge The Lord and His power. Then and only then did Naaman have faith. In his pride he did not want to bathe in the Jordan River. In his pride he wanted his healing to happen in a grand way, not in a simple dunking in the river. He did though accept his servant’s admonition, humbled himself and in obedience immersed himself in the river. I imagine that if Naaman had remained proud and stubborn he would not have received his healing. Perhaps a baptism of sorts took place (seven times!). Then and only then did Naaman leave behind the worship of false gods and emerged a new person, like a young boy…