Second Chances
“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.’”
Today’s Text: Jonah 3 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Where would we be if our God was not the God of second chances. And not just second chances, but third and fourth and on and on. At the same time, where would we be if our God was not the God of justice, making His righteousness known in a broken world. That is the revelation that God gave to Moses about Himself.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
— Exodus 34:6-7
But how does God’s mercy and justice play out in our lives day to day? Day to day, we experience the consequences of sin—our own sin, the sin of others, and the sin of Adam and Eve. And yet, God is always there waiting to redeem us from the curse of sin in Christ Jesus to bring forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing for our lives.
That is how God is revealed in the story of Jonah. He is the God of mercy and justice and redemption.
But the message doesn’t stop there. Because what does that revelation really mean for us day to day?
As a prophet of the LORD, Jonah represents God’s covenant people—that is, God represents all who have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. And isn’t it crazy that the part of God’s character that Jonah rejects is the fact that He is “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love”?
Or to be more accurate, the part of God’s character that Jonah rejects is that He is “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love” toward people that Jonah hates. Jonah celebrates that He is “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love” toward himself and his own people, the people he loves.
And when we look at the whole counsel of Scripture, the message of Jonah for us is ultimately MISSIONAL. The Bible shows us over and over and over again that the mission of God is always the application of the revelation of God.
If we’re not getting that, we’re not getting the full revelation of God, and we’re not getting the right revelation of God.
Father, Your word is perfect. But our ears are so dull. We hear what we want to hear. What we don’t want to hear gets drowned out by the noise of idolatries in our lives. Unblock our ears, Lord, and grow our love, so that You may be glorified in us. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
