Jonah 4:5-11

“Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night.’” vs. 9

The truth came out in the end. Jonah didn’t really care about the people of Ninevah, what he got angry about was the death of the bush which had been giving him shade from the sun! And the Lord knew it! 

This story hits us right where it hurts and is typical of our attitude toward  hurting people. We’ve heard the news–we’ve seen the pictures of starving people. We get constant appeals from World Hunger and Refugee Support and most of them get tossed in the recycling bin. And we get angry, not because people are starving for no good reason, but because we get so many brochures in the mail.

So what else do we get upset about? Well, some days it’s the high price of fuel or groceries. On others it’s the neighbor who doesn’t pick up after his dog. Some days we’re irritated by the hot weather and on another it’s because there’s a leak in our drip system. And it’s just so hard to keep flowers blooming in the summertime–and why do they let the greens get so slow at the golf course? Life is so irritating! 

What if the concerns of the Lord Jesus became our own and we started seeing the world through his eyes? That’s a tough question–but perhaps it’s worth at least a few minutes of reflection.

Thought for the Day: What does it mean to “major in minors”?