Mercy is Still a Must
Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

Scripture Reading: Jonah 4:1-4

Key Verse: Jonah 3:10
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

In the NIV Bible, Jonah chapter four has the title “Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion.” If we lived near Nineveh and rubbed shoulders with these Ninevites, we might side with Jonah’s feelings.

In the first devotional of this series, I described the people that God told Jonah to go preach to. They were known as the cruelest people on earth. These Ninevites (Assyrians) made their furniture and covered it with human skin. This city had pyramids constructed of human skulls. Undoubtedly, the Lord would be the only one who would have compassion on this pagan nation.

God did, indeed, have compassion on them when they repented of their sins. God was willing to turn from His plans to destroy them if they had not listened to Jonah’s preaching!

God is still full of mercy for the nations of our world, no matter their religion or lack of religion. It does not change God’s compassion even when they claim to worship a dead prophet rather than the true and living God. God continually reaches out to people of every nation with the offer of redemption.

Do you realize how grieved God is when we do not share His love for all people? When God’s church turns inward and forgets about the lost world, it turns its back on God’s greatest concern!

Will you join me in praying consistently for people who are far from God?

Father, forgive me when I feel disgusted at sinners rather than merciful! Give me Your heart for lost people. In Jesus’s Name, amen.