1 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.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. (Jonah 3:1, 5)
Did you ever have to speak to someone who you didn’t get along with or was afraid off? It was hard wasn’t it?
Jonah was called to go and speak to the people of Nineveh. These people were very wicked and were enemies to Israel. Can you imagine what Jonah must have been thinking? Why would God want Jonah to go and speak to Israel’s enemy?
Notice what God calls them: The great city of Nineveh. Wow! Even though these people were a threat to Israel God still considered them great and even thought enough of them to send Jonah to preach God’s Word to them so they could be saved.
What is just as amazing is that God thought of us as “great” when we were his enemies. When were we his enemies? When we were conceived in our mother’s womb we were enemies of God. By nature we hated God and didn’t want him near us. Yet God didn’t leave us, instead he came to us with his word.
Through his word and baptism God made it possible for us to become his child. He saved us when we didn’t want to be saved. Jesus did it all for you and me because he considered us “great” just like the people of Nineveh.
What a great God we have that loved us when we were not even lovable!
Happy to have a God who has always loved me just like you.
Pastor Hanneman