Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:1–2, ESV)
We are going to look at a fun story this week. It is the story of Jonah and the big fish. Jonah was a minor prophet in the Scripture. Being described as a minor prophet does not mean that his message was any less important. It was just that he was not as long-winded as some of the other prophets.
The message that Jonah would proclaim was only eight words. But those eight words had an incredible impact. They would bring the whole city of Nineveh to repentance. But we will get to that later.
The story starts with the calling of Jonah. It begins with the Word. It was the Word that sent Jonah. It was the Word that guided Jonah. It is the Word that still guides us today.
He was called to go to the great city of Nineveh. Nineveh was a powerful city. It was the capital of Assyria which was the superpower of its day. But for all its greatness, the city of Nineveh was filled with great evil.
I can’t help but see parallels to our modern United States. We live in a great nation. There are reasons that people want to come here. But at the same time, our nation is filled with great evils.
As Jonah was called as a missionary to Nineveh, God has called us to be missionaries in our communities and nation. There are a few things we can learn from Jonah. As we begin this study, I want to invite and encourage you to read the book of Jonah. It is four short chapters and should take you less than 10 minutes. We will start to dig deeper tomorrow.
Reflection
- Do you view yourself as a missionary to your community? Why or why not?
- Read Jonah.
Prayer
Lord, you have called me to serve as a missionary to the people in my community. Give me the courage to follow you and not to flee this calling. Give me the wisdom to effectively witness your love in both word and deed. Amen.
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