What's your vine?
In my devos the other day, I read Jonah. Not hard to do in 30 minutes. Four chapters long.
You know Jonah from Sunday School. He didn't obey God, so he got swallowed until he decided to listen up. Good lesson to us all. But this time, that's not the part of the story that caught my attention.
It was chapter 4, the end of the story. But let's recap, first.
After Jonah got puked up, he went to Nineveh and told the people there to repent. Yay! That's usually where the Sunday School story ends.
But here's what they usually leave out: Jonah was MAD that these people repented. Livid. He really wanted these people to burn (literally) for their sins. I mean, mad enough that he wanted to DIE because these people were going to LIVE. If that's not misguided passion, I don't know what is.
As a bit of a background, not only were the Ninevites not good people, they were bitter enemies of the Israelite. So it kind of made sense that Jonah wanted them wiped off the face of the earth (and we know how the Old Testament people treated their enemies... just annihilated them).
So Jonah climbed up a hill to mope, and God provided a vine to shade him from the harsh Middle Eastern sun. It made the depressed prophet feel a little better. In fact, it made him "very happy." But the next morning God sent a worm to eat the plant, and then Jonah got hot and uncomfortable, and so miserable that he wanted to die again (drama much?).
This is what hit me:
Jonah was more concerned about his own comfort than the lives of more than 120,000 people who didn't know any better than to do the wrong they were doing. He was upset enough that he wanted his life to end about a PLANT DYING, but he didn't care that a whole city of people were going to be toast.
It really convicted me. Maybe it does you, too.
Now, you and I in 2014 don't generally wish death upon an entire city of people. Especially we who follow Jesus' example of loving our enemies.
But how many of us are more concerned with our own comfort than the souls of millions of other people?
Do I pray more often for the lost bound for eternal damnation... or for material things I really want?
Do I talk to people about how much God loves them or do I worry more about my own comfort zone (and staying in it)?
Am I active in ministry or am I more concerned with keeping my evenings and weekends open for relaxing and watching football (or going to the movies, or whatever)?
So what's your vine? What is it that's distracting you from what's really important? What's keeping you from doing something about the people that need your prayers and your message? Is it worrying about the need for food on the table, your health, warm clothes for the winter? Read Matthew 6:25-31. God has promised to take care of those faithful to him. And we can be faithful by doing our job given to us.
I know I fail so many times. So many times I'm just as bad as Jonah, more upset that my happy bubble is being threatened than the eternal lives of people across the globe, across the country, or right in my own town. I want to learn from Jonah's shortcomings. I want to redirect my thinking so I "worry" more about my neighbor than myself. That's what I'm going to be working on.
Matthew 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
So Jonah climbed up a hill to mope, and God provided a vine to shade him from the harsh Middle Eastern sun. It made the depressed prophet feel a little better. In fact, it made him "very happy." But the next morning God sent a worm to eat the plant, and then Jonah got hot and uncomfortable, and so miserable that he wanted to die again (drama much?).
This is what hit me:
Jonah was more concerned about his own comfort than the lives of more than 120,000 people who didn't know any better than to do the wrong they were doing. He was upset enough that he wanted his life to end about a PLANT DYING, but he didn't care that a whole city of people were going to be toast.
It really convicted me. Maybe it does you, too.
Now, you and I in 2014 don't generally wish death upon an entire city of people. Especially we who follow Jesus' example of loving our enemies.
But how many of us are more concerned with our own comfort than the souls of millions of other people?
Do I pray more often for the lost bound for eternal damnation... or for material things I really want?
Do I talk to people about how much God loves them or do I worry more about my own comfort zone (and staying in it)?
Am I active in ministry or am I more concerned with keeping my evenings and weekends open for relaxing and watching football (or going to the movies, or whatever)?
So what's your vine? What is it that's distracting you from what's really important? What's keeping you from doing something about the people that need your prayers and your message? Is it worrying about the need for food on the table, your health, warm clothes for the winter? Read Matthew 6:25-31. God has promised to take care of those faithful to him. And we can be faithful by doing our job given to us.
I know I fail so many times. So many times I'm just as bad as Jonah, more upset that my happy bubble is being threatened than the eternal lives of people across the globe, across the country, or right in my own town. I want to learn from Jonah's shortcomings. I want to redirect my thinking so I "worry" more about my neighbor than myself. That's what I'm going to be working on.
Matthew 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Conviction is part of God's mercy. It is part of His promise to finish what He started in those who have said yes to Jesus. People are always more important than _________ (fill in the blank).
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