Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 22, 2012
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
1 Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
After Jonah was thrown overboard and then spent three days in a big fish and got vomited back on to the shore, God reminds Jonah that he has a second chance. Jonah is told to deliver God’s message. This time Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord. Despite Jonah’s expectations, the people of Nineveh did repent and God saved them from destruction.
Who is God telling us to go to and deliver His message? Perhaps God has a specific people or person that he wants you to deliver His message. Perhaps we are the one God will use to bring them to salvation.