Jonah 3:1-3a
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
These verses are a great encouragement. Firstly, because we see God’s loving persistence and, secondly, because we rejoice that God’s servant, Jonah, obeys the voice of his Master.
God has a heart for prophets who have lost their way, as well as for people who do not know his way. God has neither given up on his prophet, nor the people of Nineveh.
Jesus taught his disciples to pray, Our Father…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Thus we clearly pray for God’s will to be done, while at the same time recognizing our role in the fulfilling of this prayer. God has privileged us as participants with him in the outworking of his will.
God persists with Jonah. Thus his word comes to Jonah a second time. In our own lives and ministry it is the fact of God’s call that counts. The ministry and place of God’s vocation for us is secondary to the fact that it is God’s call on us. It is our responsibility to be sensitive to the signs of God’s calling and to enter into it with dedication and joy.
Persistent God, you call your servants a second, third and un-numbered times. Give me the will and wisdom to respond to you with thankfulness and joy. In the name of your Son who came not to be served, but to serve and who cried, “not my will but yours be done”. Amen.