When my two-and-a-half-year-old niece Camry comes to visit she goes straight to my bookshelves and pulls down the four books she loves to "read." One is a picture Bible. She turns to her favorite pages and gives her version of each story.
I laugh as she makes a face at Goliath and says, "Yuck, he’s ugly" and when she spits Jonah out of the belly of the whale. I smile when she tells the lions to be nice to Daniel. But my favorite is her reaction to the picture of the prodigal son returning home to the outstretched arms of his father. She simply says, "I’m sorry, Daddy."
Acting Like a Child
Even at her young age Camry’s heart is tender to God’s Word. The same cannot be said of Jonah after the citizens of Nineveh turned from their evil ways. Jonah can be compared to a child—a spoiled child. Jonah became angry at the Lord because the Lord didn’t destroy the Ninevites. Instead of marveling at what the Lord had done in Nineveh, he sulked.
Jonah had the privilege of being part of a redemptive miracle. The evil city of Nineveh turned to the Lord. And Jonah became angry. Why? He didn’t think the Ninevites deserved the Lord’s compassion.
Who Is Deserving?
We read about Jonah’s anger toward God after his successful mission trip through Nineveh, and we shake our heads at his audacity. But aren’t we as guilty as Jonah at picking and choosing who the Lord should redeem? This person is worthy, but this person has done this, that, or the other. "The Lord shouldn’t waste his time on him!"
The real picture Jonah missed and we often miss as well is that the Lord is always searching for those whose hearts are tender toward him. Each person has the right to hear the message of redemption. Each person should be given the opportunity to say, "I’m sorry, Daddy."
Cathy Griffith is the Executive Director of the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center in Hillsboro, Ohio.
