Jonah, the Vine, and the City

What do you value the most, yourself, your environment, or your home? Where does God’s will fit in with what your values are? Do you value God and God’s will more than yourself, your environment, and your home?

The prophet Jonah valued himself, his environment, and his home more than he valued God, more than he valued God’s call on his life, and more than he valued the people to whom he was called.

Jonah did not want to obey God by going to a foreign land and preaching to the enemies of the Israelite people. Jonah valued his personal comfort over God’s grace and mercy for the people of Nineveh. Jonah valued the plant that gave him shade in his environment more than the grace and mercy of God for Nineveh. Jonah valued his own homeland greater than the ever-expanding kingdom of God.

The Book of Jonah tells us, “But God said to Jonah, ‘Do you do well to be angry for the plant?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.’ and the Lord said, ‘You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?’” (Jonah 4:9-11, ESV).

In our sinful rebellion, we can often be self-absorbed and value our own needs, feelings, desires and wants above God and His will. We value our personal comfort, our environment, and our home greater than we value God’s desire to save the nations and to usher in God’s kingdom in all the world.

Like Jonah, we are being called to see the world through a selfless lens, focusing on the goodness of God and his mercy and grace for all people of every nation.

May we seek God and God’s will to share the good news of the love of God and God’s grace and mercy for all people of every nation, and may we be participators in ushering in the Kingdom of God in all the world.

A Prayer for a Spirit of Evangelism: "Almighty God our Savior, you desire that none should perish, and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who repents: Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers, that the lost may be found and the dead made alive, and that all your redeemed may rejoice around your throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." (#20., Book of Common Prayer, 2019). 

A Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, or the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Proper 20): “O Lord, you have taught us that without love, all our deeds are worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you; grant this for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

A new Flourish 365: A Daily Devotional is now available! Download #Flourish 365, a free #devotional book, a #devotional for each day of the year, by subscribing here: www.robbiepruitt.com #discipleship #BibleStudy #bibleverse #bibleverse #disciple #salvation #forgiveness