After the whale or the big fish vomited Jonah, God spoke to Jonah again, "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah obeyed God and went to Nineveh. Nineveh was a very large city. It took three days to go through the city, and Jonah walked one day at a time, proclaiming the message of God, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed." (Jonah 3:1-4). Jonah finally obeyed God and went to proclaim His message to the people of Nineveh. The message of God was simple. It is about warning the people of Nineveh of the judgment of God because of their great sin. The reason Jonah was not willing to warn the Ninevites at the beginning was that if the people of Nineveh repented of their sins and asked God for mercy, God would not bring judgment to them. Since Jonah hated the Ninevites or the Assyrians, he didn't want to warn them because he wanted God to destroy them.
God showed mercy to Jonah by restoring him, and He was using Jonah to show mercy to the Ninevites. It is important for us to understand that whatever we receive from God, He expects us to do the same to others. God has forgiven us our sins, so He expects us to forgive. God loves us, so He expects us to love others. He blesses us with resources, so He expects us to bless others. God wants us to be a channel of His blessings. God opens our hearts to believe in Him, so we need to share our faith with others so that they will also have a chance to believe in Him. It is not meant for us to just receive from God, but for us to receive and give. When the Ninevite heard the message of God, it would be up to them what to do with it. They had to choose to repent or ignore the warning. Jonah had done His mission to tell them the message of God after going through the entire city of Nineveh.
God forgives us of our sins so that we can forgive. God loves us so that we can love others. The more we receive from God, the more we are obligated to give. We are blessed to be a blessing to others. The more we bless others, the more God will bless us. Acts 20:35 says, "And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully and meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speaks to you). What does God expect of me to do when He has forgiven me of my sin? Why is it important for me to show mercy to others? What did Jesus say about blessing others?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for being so merciful to me. Thank you for forgiving me of all my sins. Please help me to forgive those who hurt and offended me just as you have forgiven all my sins. Please help me to bless others just as you bless you. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.