Jonah 3:1-10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you." So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD's bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed," when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: "Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish." When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for the Wharton family. David passed away from a heart attack yesterday, and leaves behind Cathy (wife) and Emily (3 year old Daughter).
When Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, how many reacted like the Ninevites today? Upon hearing the prophet Jonah's proclamation of God's word, they immediately wanted to change their lives. When Christ spoke to the crowds, how many of them immediately turned their lives around in repentance?
It should be the same for us every time we hear the Word of God proclaimed in the sacred scriptures. We must never take God's Word for granted. Instead, we must always allow His Words to bring us to conversion, just as God's words, through Jonah, brought the Ninevites to conversion. Take care and God Bless.
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