Jonah: God's Relentless GraceSample

Man who repents 

Jonah cries out to God from inside the fish. In his distress he prays. From the deep he calls out to God for help. And God listens to him. We see Jonah repenting of his sin. 

One who truly repents does not feel entitled to being forgiven. One who truly repents does not give excuses for his sin. But true repentance involves an acceptance of sin and admission of guilt before God. True repentance is turning from our sin and turning toward God to save us. It is to change the way we think about sin and look at it for what it is in God’s eyes. True repentance involves throwing oneself upon the mercy of God. 

When was the last time you repented of sin? Martin Luther says that repentance needs to be a lifestyle for a follower of Christ. We don’t repent only when we get caught or only when we do something really bad. The more we grow in Christ, the more aware we become of our sinful tendencies. By the grace of God, as we grow in Christ, we tend to sin less and less, but our awareness of our sin grows more and more. 

And it is this deep awareness of sin that makes us run to God for mercy and fall into His arms for forgiveness. This makes the sacrifice of Jesus real to us and we realize we are nothing without the cross of Christ and the grace of God.