God doesn’t erase everything we’ve ever done, he just doesn’t hold it against us any longer.
“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time:” [Jonah 3:1]
GOD IS A GOD OF NEW BEGINNINGS
God will not let you drift so far that you can’t come back.
“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” [Jonah 3:1-2]
GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING IN THE BACKGROUND
“This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” [Jonah 3:3-4]
“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” [2 Peter 3:9]
“The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.” [Jonah 3:5-6]
All along God was working behind the scenes to give Israel a chance to repent, to give the most powerful nation on Earth the opportunity to know Him and all Jonah could think about was how all of this affected him.
- Is it possible that the things you’re going through right now aren’t even really about you
GOD IS WILLING TO RESTORE ANYONE
“Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.” [Jonah 3:7-10]
“If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.” [Jeremiah 18:7-8]
God wants you to repent so you can be restored into relationship with Him.