The Book of Jonah
Chapter 3
¹ The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying. ² "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."
(The Book of Jonah Chapter 3 verses 1 to 2)
Oh God my Father it is time for us as Christians to proclaim the Words of the Good News. Others such as Protestants are making a good job of both proclaiming and living the Word of God as in the Bible, however as adults there is more to be done, for we are living an alienated life, and when the time arrives, I fear that we will be found unprepared as in the time of Noah. I pray that in all the circles that we make part of we do the work of the prophet and raise the awareness that we need to turn back to You and have a relationship with You for our own good while You are still giving us the opportunity of doing so.
³ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three day's walk across.
(The Book of Jonah Chapter 3 verse 3)
Many times oh God my beloved Father, we end up having to swallow our pride and going against our will in order to do what You want us to do, which is not always what I want to do. However, in practice, it is useless attempting to do it my way, when in truth I have doubts or am sure that what I wish or want to do is not according to Your will.
⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!". ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
(The Book of Jonah Chapter 3 verses 4 to 5)
Oh God my Father it is never wise to deny anybody the opportunity to change, improve and be exposed to the Faith in You, even if they are atheists or of a different religion. I cannot say that that person or family will not benefit from that intervention, because that family or person may well benefit in its totality from the given opportunity. So it is best to give all their rightful opportunities, even though I may know that some may succeed and some due to their life chances may probably not, however I also beleive that You are in control of all that happens in my life and that You are able to change both people and their situaions Amen.
⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
(The Book of Jonah Chapter 3 verse 6)
Oh God my beloved Father repentance is an opportunity that is given to all regardless of status or class. You give us all the opportunity to turn back from our ways and start fresh in our relationship with You. I pray that leaders as in the case of this king are positively influenced by the goodness or good and positive acts of their subjects or citizens in order to keep on fulfilling their roles according to Your ways Amen.
⁷ Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles; No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. ⁸ Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. ⁹ Who knows? God may relent and change his mind, he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish."
(The Book of Jonah Chapter 3 verses 7 to 9)
Oh Godmy beloved Father, even though our intentions may not be out of faith but of fear that we will experience the negative consequences of our actions, You still care for us and intervene at the appointed time of our deliverance. I thank You for judging us not only on our actions but even on our intentions Amen.
¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it.
(The Book of Jonah Chapter 3 verse 10)
Oh God my Father, how strong is the power of praise repentance and abstenance. It seems to be so powerful that it was enough to encourage You to turn back from the decision that You had taken in relation to Nineveh. I pray that we are always persistent in our prayer life and relationship with You and that we never give up, even though the situation is becoming challenging Amen.
In light of the third chapter of the book of Jonah, I would like to end with the following reflection:
Oh brothers and sisters if we were told that the world is going to come to and end tomorrow, would we repent and change our ways or would we consider it as another practical joke and keep on living the life that we have been accustomed to living?
