Slices
Prepare
Is there anything – large or small – that is stopping you doing what God wants? As we read today of the second chance God gave Jonah, ask him to reveal stuff that you may need to deal with, so that you can follow him wholeheartedly.
Bible passage
Jonah goes to Nineveh
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
‘By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.’
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Explore
Initially, God called out to Jonah, and Jonah ignored him (1:1–3). But when Jonah calls out to God, he gets a response (2:10)! At last, Jonah is ready to be obedient and is graciously given another opportunity (vs 1,2).
So, off he sets on the 500-mile journey to Nineveh to deliver God’s message of warning to the Assyrian people. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and at that time, around 750 bc, the largest and richest city in the world. But it was also a corrupt, cruel and evil regime – the modern-day equivalent of a terrorist state.
God’s short message of warning through Jonah hits home. The outcome is amazing. The Ninevite people believe what God is saying and respond in repentance (v 5). Not only that – the king repents too! He even includes livestock in the resulting proclamation that everyone should cover themselves in sackcloth and turn from their evil ways (vs 6–9). How amazing it would be if we could see such a response to God today in our depraved world.
Respond
Bring to God someone you know who desperately needs to meet with him. Ask God to show them his mercy and grace… and keep praying!
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Samuel 6,7; 1 Corinthians 4
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Tina, Huw, Keefe and Nic, and for other Faith Guides and SU field staff across England and Wales. Ask God to guide them as they look at ways to deepen connections with children and young people in their communities and help them to explore, respond and grow in faith.
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