Love God Greatly - JonahНамуна

God doesn´t want anyone to perish

I imagine Jonah with eyes wide open seeing how the people of Nineveh responded to God´s message. The people of Nineveh fasted, mourned as someone had died. They came to God with passion and seriousness about their sin and their need for His mercy and forgiveness. 

I must confess I´ve had problems with God´s timing. I´ve been praying for the salvation of my family for 16 years but none of them has accepted Jesus as Savior. My dad died a year and a half ago and, even though I know he heard the Gospel, I have no idea if he was saved. He was the kindest man on earth and, for a time, when I saw other people not as kind as my dad come to Jesus, my heart sank. 

That happened to Jonah, too. He didn´t think the Ninevites deserved the opportunity to repent. But we are called to share Jesus with everybody. We forget that our job is sharing the Gospel (Matthew 28:19)  and that it´s the Holy Spirit´s job to convict the world concerning sin (John 16:8). I forgot – like Jonah did - that my dad and the worst murderer in the world need Jesus exactly the same, and that God only sees sinners who need salvation no matter how good or bad they are to human standards.

Do you struggle with sharing the Gospel with certain people? Do you think that there are people that “deserve” salvation more than others? Dear friend, we are all sinners and we all need Jesus. Praise God He doesn´t want anyone to perish!

Lord, help me remember that salvation comes from You and that it is my responsibility to talk to others about You, sharing the gift of the eternal life You offer to everybody. Amen.