FROM RICHES TO RAGS

The city of Nineveh was so big that it would have taken three days to walk around it. Jonah started telling everyone the message God had given him: in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed.

The people of Nineveh believed the message from God and decided to put on rags and go without food to show how sorry they were.

When the king heard the message, even he stepped down from his throne, took off his royal robe, and put on scratchy cloth. The king even went to sit in a pile of ashes. He sent out an order that no one was to eat or drink anything, and that everyone was to pray to God and ask for forgiveness.

The king thought, “Maybe if we stop our evil ways, God will change His mind and not be angry with us anymore.”

(Jonah 3:1-10)

How can the heart of a wicked sinner be changed?
God had warned His own people the Israelites many times about their pride and their worship of heathen gods. But their hearts did not change towards Him. (Not even the prophet Jonah had a humble, obedient spirit). Yet God gave this heathen nation just one chance to change—and that was all they needed. They immediately humbled themselves and asked for forgiveness. After hearing Jonah’s warning, they stopped their evil deeds straight away.

If you push something hard enough, it will move. If you make something hot enough, it will melt. But how can you change the heart of a person? What can make a wicked person want to be good? Only the Spirit of God can change a person. “It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord. No human force can change a person’s spiritual attitude. Only the Holy Spirit can change a person’s heart towards God.

Verse for today
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19

HOLIDAYS AND PARTIES

Amos the prophet said to the people of Israel, “God will be your helper

if you hate evil and love what is good.”

Amos also told them, “This is what the Lord says; ‘I hate your religious feasts. 

When you bring Me your sacrifices and offerings, I will not accept them. 

I cannot stand the noise of your songs and the sound of your harps. 

What I want from you is a flood of justice and streams of goodness.’ "

(Amos 5:14-15, 21-24)

What does God think about our religious celebrations?
Why would God tell the Israelites that He hated their religious celebrations when He had told them to have these feasts?

God does not tell us to do things without a reason. The reason for the celebrations was to get everyone to take a break from their busy lives and think about their faith. One of the feasts was to give thanks by bringing the first part of their harvest. Another was to sacrifice an animal for the forgiveness of their sins. Then there was a feast to remind them of how God had brought them out of Egypt.

But instead of remembering how good God had been to them, they used the celebration as an excuse to have a big party. And so, a festival that was meant to make people think about God and rejoice in His goodness turned into a noisy party where everyone forgot about real reason for the celebration.

Paul says that each person should decide which days have a special meaning, and which are just ordinary days. It is up to you to decide which occasions are important to you. If they are meant to remind you about the Lord, let them be meaningful by making the Lord welcome at the celebrations—and in your heart!

Verse for today
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.- Romans 14:5

STEALING FROM THE POOR

The kingdom of Israel had split: there was a Northern kingdom (still called Israel), and a Southern kingdom (now called Judah). God spoke through different prophets who preached to the people in Israel and in Judah. Amos was a prophet who preached to the people in the Northern Kingdom, where some had become very rich while others lived in poverty.

God told Amos to say this to the rich; “You sell honest men as slaves and poor men for a pair of sandals. You trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor aside. Of all the nations on earth, you are the ones I have cared for. This is why your sin is so terrible, and for that I will punish you.”

(Amos 2:6-7, 3:1-2)

What should I do when someone can’t pay me back?
Jesus told a story about a servant who owed his master a lot of money. When he couldn’t pay it back, the king ordered him to be sold as a slave to pay his debt. The servant begged the king to be patient with him. The king felt sorry for the servant and forgave him his debt. But later on, when this same servant met someone else who owed him money, he was not willing to forgive the other person his small debt (Matthew 18:23-35).

God was angry because the rich Israelites demanded their money back from the poor—even though they themselves had more than enough to live on. What made God even more angry was that they sold others into slavery, forgetting that they themselves had been rescued from slavery in Egypt.

If someone owes you something that they cannot give back, remember that things should never become more important than people. If you are kind to others, God will be kind to you!

Verse for today
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.-Luke 6:35

THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN

Now that the sailors knew that the storm at sea was Jonah’s fault, they asked him what they should do for the storm to stop.

“Throw me into the sea,” he said, “and it will be calm.”

At first, the sailors did not want to throw Jonah overboard, but when the storm grew worse, they picked him up and threw him into the sea.

At once, the sea became calm and the sailors offered a sacrifice to the Lord.

The Lord had planned for a huge fish to swallow Jonah—and from deep inside the fish, he prayed to God.

For three days and nights, Jonah was trapped inside the dark stomach of the fish. Then the Lord heard Jonah’s prayer and made the fish spit him out onto a beach.

Once again, the Lord told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach to the people; so Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh.

(Jonah 1:11-2:10)

Can we actually run away or hide from God?
What made Jonah decide to run away? As a prophet, he should have known better. So why did he not want go to Nineveh and preach there as God had told him to?

In Jonah’s mind, the people of Nineveh were enemies—they were heathens that did not deserve God’s forgiveness. Jonah thought that if he took a ship going in the opposite direction that nothing, and no one, could get him to Nineveh. Soon it would be ‘impossible’ for him to get to Nineveh, and he would be so far away that his conscience wouldn’t even bother him.

When Adam disobeyed God he also thought he could go and hide so that God wouldn’t find him. It is foolish to hide or run from God: He knows exactly where we are anyway. When we decide to run from God’s loving arms we are sure to run into BIG trouble!

Verse for today
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7