Jonah (part V)

By Odon Bulamba (summary only)

Jonah 3:4-4:4

Those people of Ninevah decided that not only they should fast but also the animals among them. This was my first time to discover that animals can also fast. Animals can fast? For the purpose of our sin? What we learn from this is that we have to give God everything that we have. We have to show God that if my body is fasting, my soul is fasting and everything around me also has to share that same sorrow or problem with me.

Most of the time when we are praying we don't involve people around us, we keep quiet. When for example I am is crossing a problem it's not easy for me ask others to pray for me or to ask others for their support. We don't have to make it a requirement to know all about the problem, you can ask for support from a brother or sister in Christ, ask them to pray for you so you can feel supported. Sometimes we think we can pray by ourselves but sometimes God will work through someone else, outside of your family to answer your prayer requests. We have to support each other in our way of praying and we have to make others participate, make our friends to participate and teach our children to pray for others and that will help the world to recognize who God is .

In Chapter 4:1, after God seeing that those people didn't continue in their sin and they recognized their fault, God decided to forgive them. Jonah interpreted that in a wrong way and he was angry. Many times whenever someone tries to help us or gives us a warning, we can just interpret it in our own way and become angry. When I become angry I will not please God because anger is not a gift of the Holy Spirit, instead I will please satan. So what shall we do? When ever you receive a message we have to think about it and if it’s not clear we have to ask so we can understand clearly.

After listening to what God said, Jonah became angry and he interpreted the result in his own way. He complained to God, “how come you're not going to punish them anymore, you promised. They will think that God can promise and then changed his mind after two minutes, you promised to punish them, do it now”. He became angry. Do you think Jonah was angry against the people of Ninevah or against God? He was angry against God because God changed his decision and sometimes we can easily become angry against God too. For example, some people are not happy with the way they look and they complain to God because others are better looking. And when those who are better looking than them look in their direction, they become angry and think the person is vain and proud. Our way of interpreting things can sometimes lead us to sin. We have to ask God questions to understand better and we must thank God for whatever He gave us.

In verse 4, Jonah was asked, “do you have really the right to be angry?” Do you also have the right to complain to God? Do you have the right to become angry or to do whatever you are doing against God? That is the question we are called to ask ourselves, all of us. We have to know the Lord our God is always right and He will never change, He will be right every day and He can kill, He can heal, He can give or He can take away whatever He has given but He will still be right. We have to remember that if we lose something it’s not because God is against me or God is not just. If for example you want something and you are not given the chance or the grace to receive it, don't blame God.

Jonah's message was a poor message because he didn't do it with a spirit which was animated by the power of God but that message transformed the life of all the nation. That message of Jonah helped the people of Ninevah to recognize God. The way that we are here, all of us can take the gospel to others and preach to others. Maybe we can just write some pamphlets or some notes on a sheet of paper and put them in mailboxes around us. Although we don't want to go to Nineveh but if we do it our actions can produce fruit the same way it was for Jonah. Jonah didn't want to preach in Ninevah but whatever he did by telling people about God, God made it to produce fruit in their lives and the lives of those people changed.

So what will it cost you today to sit in front of your computer and type maybe one sentence, “my friend Jesus loves you” and then print maybe 20 copies andput them in mailboxes around your neighbourhood? Maybe someone will read it and find that Jesus loves them and wonder who wrote this for them and that message can give life to that soul and maybe ten years later or maybe two weeks later you will hear someone say, “I received a note in my mailbox saying Jesus loves me and that was a message of joy for me. I was crossing a hard situation and I needed love and I found Jesus”.

It will not cost you anything but through small actions like that one God can heal all the population of a country. We have to find strategies and find what way we shall preach. If you are not able to stand on the street and speak then find another way. Some people can even use email. If we are ashamed to speak we can find another way but if we have the courage to speak, what are we waiting for? We have to speak, we have to inform others because soon Jesus is coming back.

If there was a fire on this street, I believe each person here would yell and warn their neighbors of the danger. We are people who are called to help others from that fire so we have to shout, we have to open our alarms and put them in action and tell others that the end of time is here, the end of the world will be burned soon so you have to come out from wherever you are, if not you will perish. We are living in a free society so we can talk to others and there is no consequence or danger if you are telling someone about Jesus, so don't worry.

This message was just about Jonah's gospel but today I will call it Hayley's gospel, or Marcia’s gospel and Sylvie's gospel. It’s my gospel and I must share it with others and help them to find salvation. Let's pray so we can get enough strength from God to work for God to call people to his kingdom. Let's pray.

For the full message please email: littlebethlehem@windowslive.com