No More Jonahs

Bible Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 4:1-4, 10-11

Ciera was almost home when the boy next door whizzed by on his bike, right through a big puddle on the sidewalk. He laughed as he looked back to see her reaction when the muddy water splashed on her. Shaking off as much water as possible, Ciera ran up her driveway and into the house.

Mom looked up in surprise when Ciera banged the door shut. “Look what Carter did!” Ciera wailed. “You and Dad keep telling me to be friendly to him. Well, I’m not going to. I’ll never speak to him again if I can help it!”

Mom came over to help Ciera dry off. “It wasn’t very nice of him to do that,” she said when she heard what had happened, “but I still think you—and Dad and I—need to be kind to him.”

“Why?” asked Ciera. “He’s so mean!”

“All the more reason we should be kind to him,” Mom said. “I don’t think he or anyone in his family is a Christian. He needs to know that Jesus loves him and that he can have his sins forgiven.”

“I don’t want him to be forgiven!” Ciera cried. “I want him to be punished.”

“You sound like the prophet Jonah did back in his day,” said Mom.

“How am I like that?” asked Ciera. “He was swallowed by a big fish—then spit out on dry land.”

“I was thinking of what happened later,” said Mom. “When God told Jonah to warn the people in the city of Nineveh of coming judgment, he refused at first. After his episode with the fish, he did go and tell them, and they repented of their sin and were saved. Jonah didn’t like that. He thought they should be punished as they deserved to be. He seemed to forget that he was a sinner God had chosen to save and thought he knew better than God how the people of Nineveh should be treated.”

Ciera sighed. “I don’t want to be like Jonah. I guess that means I need to be nice to Carter.”

“And pray for him too,” Mom added. “Let’s all pray that Jesus will use us to show His love to Carter and his family.” Harriett A. Durrell

How About You?

Are you willing to share the love of Jesus with everyone? Even those who are unkind to you? Or are there some kids you want to see punished? Don’t be like Jonah. We all deserve to be punished, but Jesus chose to sacrifice His life so we could be saved. Pray for others, and do what you can to help them know about Jesus. Then be glad when you see someone turn to Him for salvation.

Today’s Key Verse:
Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (NKJV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Share God’s love with others