Embracing the Heavenly Vision

Sitting in self-made shelter,
Jonah waited and watched.
What will happen to Nineveh?

A leafy plant for shade;
God provided for Jonah.
To ease his discomfort.

A worm to kill the plant;
God provided for Jonah.
To cause him discomfort. [1]

The Lord asked Jonah,
“Concerned about the plant,
You did not grow, are you?”
“Concerned about the 120,000 people,
Should I not be?” [2]

“Jonah is an example of a point of view often prevalent among God’s people. Behind Jonah’s story is the idea that permeates the entire Bible – that Yahweh is a missionary God who desires His people share His missionary heart.” [3]

Jonah sat on his shaded seat and waited for God to come around to his way of thinking instead of yielding himself to God’s mission.

God sent one greater than Jonah and Solomon, that is, Jesus. At the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus told Nicodemus that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to save us. At the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Jesus said, “This Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” [4]

“Dear Heavenly Father, please uproot from our lives the tendency to place our personal pleasure in the highest place, and please plant in our lives Your heart to seek and to save the lost. For their salvation and for Your glory! In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”

[1] Based on Jonah 4:5-8
[2] Based on Jonah 4:10-11
[3] Gailey and Culbertson, Discovering Missions, Beacon Hill Press, (c) 2007, pp. 29-30
[4] John 3:16; Mark 16:15; Matthew 24:14