So I had this best friend named Jonah.

Jonah was my running buddy for a long time.

He would have me cracking up laughing as he described his adventures in walking with God.

And the stuff he got into trying to run from God.

This one particular day God told Jonah to do something and Jonah said nope and ran.

It was then that I knew that I couldn’t follow Jonah because I cant swim

Anyway listening to Jonah tell his story I could really understand where he was coming from

I could definitely relate to Jonah in not really wanting to be bothered with a bunch of (let me call it only as God called it) “stiffnecked and hard hearted” people.

I feel you Bro Jonah. I’m right with you on that.

But even as I’m high fiving it with Jonah in agreement because of my own experiences with people something begins to catch my attention.

The compassion of God for the people

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.

He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord , when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.

Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.

He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” – Jonah 4:1-11 NIV

This passion of Christ for the people is astounding .

And I am introduced to Ezekiel who changes out my Jonah gymshoes for a brand that reminds me to Just Do It lol

Ezekiel says to me…

“Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’

There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.

Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things;

they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;

they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;

and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey;

they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.

Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations.

They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.

The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;

they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.“

I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it,

but I found no one.

So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. ” – Ezekiel 22:24-31 NIV

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While Ezekiel is talking to me, my friend Isaiah comes up and tells me his story.

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In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

”Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,

until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.

And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste.

But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.” – Isaiah 6:1-13 NIV

Wait up Isaiah, I’m going with you.

Hey Jonah, buddy, I’ll catch you later.

And like that, I said, “yes” to God; and left my friend Jonah sitting under that broom tree sulking about the attitudes of the people.

It takes real love to go out, and tell a person what they don’t want to here.

The truth.

How do I know it’s the truth…

Because it’s not my personal opinion.
It’s Gods Word.

And I believe God.

The End.