After Jonah followed God's second call to preach His coming judgment on Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-4), the people of the city turned from their evil lifestyle, so the Lord did not destroy them (v.10). God's mercy made Jonah angry. He told God he had been afraid this would happen, and that's why he fled to Tarshish in the first place. "I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, . . . One who relents from doing harm" (4:2). But the Lord said to Jonah, "Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons?" (4:11). God's marvelous grace is greater than all our sin. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Because of His grace to us, we should "be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave [us]" (4:32). Instead of being angry when God is merciful, we should applaud. —David McCasland
For this I cannot help but thankful be; I read His Word, His promises embrace, And daily praise Him for His matchless grace. —Hess We can stop showing mercy to others when Christ stops showing mercy to us.
How Has God Loved Us? |
How do we react when God shows mercy to people we think deserve punishment? If we are resentful, it may indicate that we have forgotten how much the Lord has forgiven us.