RUSSELL SANDERS
9-5-2020
JONAH – PART 27
CH. 4:10-11
Jonah sat under his booth east of Nineveh pouting in anger that the gourd vine that had given him shade from the intense heat had been cut down by a worm. God made the vine grow large in one day, then had it destroyed the next day. God did this to teach Jonah a lesson.
The Lord said to him in verses 9-10, “…you have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great (large) city, in which more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock?”
Jonah had nothing invested in the gourd vine, yet he was angry over its’ loss. God has much invested into people; they are His creation. He deeply feels a loss if souls perish in hell, and these souls had repented. In Psalm 24:1 it says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof: the world and (all) they that dwell therein.” Every person belongs to God our creator, although many (whom Satan has stolen) choose not to serve Him.
Jesus said in Matthew 9:13, “I will have mercy…for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” We also read in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise (of salvation)…but is longsuffering (patient) toward us, not willing that any should perish (in eternal torment) but that all should come to repentance. (and salvation).”
This is why God was manifested on earth in flesh in the form of Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ, the anointed One). After teaching here over three years, He sacrificed His pure, innocent, and sinless blood as a sacrifice to pay for our sin. Faith on Him, Jesus Christ, as your Lord and your soul’s savior cleanses you of sin and brings you a beautiful eternal life in His presence in heaven once our life here on earth is finished.
God loved us so much that He made that sacrifice for us so that we could be restored in relationship to our creator. Now it is our turn to return His love by repenting of sin and accepting Jesus as our Lord. He alone is the way to eternal life. He is truth.
Jesus said in John 14:6 (NKJV), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to (God the Father) except through me.” Jesus is the one and only way.
Click here to read more of Russell's daily messages
