Monday, August 12, 2019

TIM Good morning, I’m Tim Wise, Senior Adult Minister and Sanctuary Choir Director at Central. We all know the story of Jonah, right? He ran away from God, got swallowed up by a fish; finally followed God’s command and lived happily ever after, right? Not exactly… Jonah went to Nineveh, but he delivered what might be considered the shortest and worst sermon ever. He uttered one single sentence: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. What did Jonah do after God decided to spare Nineveh? He went and sat on a hill angrily that God spared the city of Nineveh. Then he got mad about a plant that was conveniently providing him some shade. Verse 10 says: “The Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant…but Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness.” God’s love should be written on our hearts, and we should be preaching the word from our hearts. We shouldn’t be like Jonah who delivered his message out of obligation. We should desire that the word of God should spread to the ends of the earth and change lives. Learn from Jonah’s mistakes…share the message of the Gospel passionately out of love for God and neighbor, not out of obligation.