A Plant or People?

Jonah is a great story of a profound event that really happened. It is amazing to think of the miracle of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish for 3 days and surviving to preach in Nineveh when God gave him a second chance to obey His command. However, it is the story behind the story that touches me. Jonah did not care about the people of Nineveh. He wanted them to die and be separated from God. In the end he cared much more for the plant that shaded him for his time of anger than he did for the people. (Jonah 4:10,11) We should not condemn Jonah very quickly, though, because we could be guilty of the same sin.

How many times do we care about the things that bring us comfort, but we forget about people made in the image of God? We forget about how God gave us all that we have, and we do not really deserve it. He even gave us the ability to work and make money, so all we have, we owe to Him. Those things come and go. They are not eternal. We should be concerned with people whom the Lord made, and for whom Jesus died. We should spend much more time on them than we do on our own comfort and pleasure. Could it be that we do not love them as we should? Maybe we just love ourselves, like Jonah. That is a terribly sinful condition for a believer or for anyone. People are far more important than plants or other earthly pleasures. Let's make sure our attitude and priorities are correct and pleasing to God.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Micah 1-4.