Its Not About the Fish

Its Not About the Fish

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented (V.10).

Jonah 3:10-4:4

Reading

It was sighted in 2006 and following that, only once in 2016 at a local Mumbai fish market. The Ganges Shark (Glyphis gangeticus) is the one true river shark of India. It is so close to extinction that the government of India has banned capturing, killing, and selling this shark. 

The Bible tells us about a “huge fish” so rare that God provided it just to swallow Jonah (JNH. 1:17). Many of us will know the story. God told Jonah to take a message of judgment to Nineveh. But Jonah wanted nothing to do with the city, which was known to attack just about everyone—including Jonah’s people. So he ran away. Things went badly and he found himself thrown into the sea. Then, from inside a fish, Jonah said sorry to God. In the end, he went to Nineveh and gave them the message, and they said sorry to God too (3:5-10).

Great story, right? Except it doesn’t end there. While Nineveh decided to trust God, Jonah got angry. “Isn’t this what I said, Lord?” he prayed. “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love” (4:2). Having been rescued from certain death, Jonah asked God to kill him (V.3).

The story of Jonah isn’t about the fish. It’s about how small our love can be for one another, and yet how big God’s love is for all of us. “The Lord . . . is patient with you,” wrote Peter, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 PET. 3:9). God offers His love to the violent city of Nineveh, to Jonah in his anger and to you and me.

To pray about . . .

Father, we are so quick to decide what other people ‘deserve’ and to miss the fact that we need Your love as much as everyone else. Help us live in Your love and to tell others about it.

OUR LOVE HAS LIMITS; GOD’S LOVE IS LIMITLESS.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries