Read: Jonah 3:10-4:11

Reflect: Jonah was mad. The Assyrians were a powerful and feared enemy of God’s chosen people. Jonah has (finally!) completed his mission to speak God’s word of warning to the hated Assyrians living in the capital city of Nineveh. Now Jonah is going to watch and wait. And sure enough… the enemies repent of their evil ways… and God forgives them!

Like Jonah, we often want to take things into our own hands. As a nation we have a reputation for a) believing we know what’s best for others, and b) that we have the right to take for ourselves the riches of the earth. I’ve often wondered just how concerned we’d be about life in the Middle East were it not for the oil reserves in that region. Perhaps, as cartoonist Walt Kelly’s Pogo famously mused, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Regardless of which side of a conflict we are on, we are wise to remember that God loves and forgives our enemies, just as God love and forgives us.

Prayer: O God, the strength of those who believe in you, give comfort and clarity of vision to us in this time of need. Open our ears to hear your voice and obey your will; open our hearts that true justice and wisdom may abound; and open our hands that violent resolution of conflict may cease, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

(Evangelical Lutheran Worship p. 62. ©2006 Augsburg Fortress, used by permission.)

WEBSITE WORD: Jonah