Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
REPENTANCE LEADS TO FORGIVENESS
(Jonah 3:10)
The Book of Jonah tells the story of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh. But he tries to scape the divine mission. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to warn them of the impending judgment because of their evil ways. Jonah obeyed the Lord the second time and proclaimed the message to the people.
Call for Repentance and forgiveness of God
Jonah’s proclamation resulted in a real repentance and this repentance
began from the bottom up. Though the Ninevites were Gentiles, they believed in
the Hebrew God and heeded the warning. By the time the word reached the king,
the city’s repentance was already well under way, but because the king also
believed Jonah’s warning, he made every effort to assure total compliance. The
King did not just call the people to fast and mourn, he calls for a change in
behavior. (v8) God wants a change of heart, and thus a change in attitude and
behavior. Repentance is making a U-turn from the wrong to the right path. True
repentance does not demand a response from God. But we can rely on God’s
promise that when we truly repent, God forgives our sins. (Jeremiah 18:8; Joel
2:13; Amos 7: 3,6; 1 John 1:9; Jonah 4:2)
The Lesson for our lives: The repentance of the people of Nineveh
(their inward action) at the preaching of Jonah is spoken with commendation by
Christ in Matthew 12:41. It was God’s will that we should be told of our
sinful life, and by doing this, we will be brought to repentance and the
destruction threatened to us will be averted.
If we do evil in God’s sight and do not obey him, then God will
reconsider the good God had intended to do to us (Jeremiah 18: 7-10). What God
really wants from us when we sin against him is not just fasting and mourning,
but a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). Repentance begins with our
awareness that what we have done is wrong. Recognizing the problem is the
first step in solving it. Like Jonah, each of us is called to proclaim God’s
loving purpose to everyone we meet, so that they can know of Him. God is in
charge and our duty is to work for Him and with Him the way He leads us.
Confess our wrong doings, demonstrate our regret and stop doing the wrong
things that we used to do. We have God’s promise that when we repent, He will
forgive us and save us.
Philip Manuel
& Laila Anie Philip, Carmel, Boston