Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh... (1-3a).
Jonah is a story of second chances. The Lord gives Jonah a second chance to obey. And Jonah does. This second time he sets to the task God gave him right away. I guess 3 days in the belly of a fish changes a person’s heart.
I certainly do not want to presume on God’s grace, mercy and gift of a second chance, but over and over in the Bible God grants people an opportunity to change their wayward ways and return to Him.
Even as God gave Jonah a second chance, He did the same to Nineveh. Jonah records that people from the greatest (the king) to the least repented and represented their repentance by donning sackcloth and ashes. The king even issued an urgent decree to call on the Lord in the hopes God would relent.
God does relent. God spares the city just as He spared Jonah.
How often God has spared me... too many to count.
I am so thankful our God is a God of second (and 3rd, 4th, 5th...) chances.
Thank You, Oh Lord, for the gift of forgiveness. Thank You, Lord, for the gift of another chance to bow before You, to worship and adore You. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
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