There's Hope For TodaySample

Thank God for second chances. If life were a “one shot” affair, we would all be out of the game. When Jonah ran from God’s call, God’s call found him again.

But God’s generous invitation was not issued until Jonah had repented of his sin.

Paul makes it clear that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Therefore, we are all in need of repentance that our ears might be opened to hear God’s call once again.

If it were up to me, I would probably have washed my hands of Jonah. The stakes in Nineveh were measured in human lives, and I wouldn’t have thought Jonah a good risk. But God runs to mercy like we run to judgment. “Arise, go to Nineveh.” This word from the Lord finds Jonah spit up on a beach without so much as a change of clothes. He has been through the most harrowing ordeal of his life. He is alone and displaced when God speaks the second time. He looked a lot better on the docks at Joppa. He had a plan. He had money then. He was in control. But now, he has nothing. Sitting alone on a desolate shoreline, Jonah hears the familiar voice of God calling again: “Arise.”

Oh, that we would learn from Jonah – when you have God’s call, you have it all.