ERCC DEVOTIONAL (TEKAN) DAILY SPIRITUAL DIET; FRIDAY 24TH NOVEMBER, 2023.

TEXT: JONAH 4: 1 - 11.

SPIRITUAL FOCUS: GOD IS GOOD.

A few days ago, we heard how the prophet Jonah field from the face of the Lord, whom the Lord rebuked and he repented. Repentance caused him to receive God's grace and he want on to deliver the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh, including fasting. In today's reading, 

Jonah became angry with the Lord because He had shown mercy to the Ninevites, heard their prayers, and forgive them. This is not for nothing except for the ethnic bias that Jonah has. To grieve, he left the city and made a shelter for himself (vs. 5). 

He wanted to see the Lord destroy the city and its inhabitants. Even today we have "Jonah" around us who does not like the development of anyone. They hate people who are created in the image of the Lord God. They are full of pride and rule with oppression. Brethren, God's grace is beyond comprehension. It was grace, that is, love that caused the Lord to cast a shadow over Jonah (vs. 6). 

But as soon as it was dry, the leaves withered, and Jonah was angry with God because he had not the plant that served as a cover over him. Although Jonah was angry. God in His mercy showed him mercy, and he felt sorry for the inhabitants of the city and for the animals more than for himself. 

With this the Lord is teaching us to be compassionate on people who have not yet accepted Christ as their Savior. Instead of accepting Christ they worship other gods, relying on dead prophets and idols. Today we need to bring them to Jesus Christ.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: It is good to seek the salvation of the lost.

PRAYER: Lord God, I beg You, teach me to love my neighbor as myself for the sake of Christ Jesus, Amen.

                             JONAH  4: 1 - 11 (ESV).

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.

11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”