New Life Church | Daily Devo - Daniel Ramos
Jonah 3:7-9
The king issued a decree, and the people repented.
When you receive a correction, are you willing to listen? Can you hear hard things? Are you willing to ask others the hard question, “How are you experiencing me?” We cannot force the world to change. We can warn them, and we can hope and pray that they repent, but we cannot change them. We can only stay humble and allow the Lord to change us from within, removing those things in us that are self-righteous, unforgiving, and angry, and replacing our disgustingness with His righteousness, His forgiveness, and His love for humankind. It is by God’s Spirit only that the world is changed. We are simply along for the ride to the degree that we are willing to be available and useful to Him for His purposes. We can be and often are BOTH Jonah AND the Assyrians in this story because the self-righteous hatred that Jonah was dishing out was the same self-righteous hatred of the Pharisees that was so revolting to Jesus.