Jesus Loves the Little Children

Jonah 4:11

The story of Jonah is well known to all, even if one has never been to Sunday school. We all know that Jonah was the reluctant prophet, called by God to take the message of repentance to a heathen nation, Nineveh. We know that Jonah ran from the call and ended up being swallowed by a whale. After three days and nights in the whale’s belly, he was vomited up on the shore. Then he goes to Nineveh and God moves greatly, stirring repentance in the hearts of all that hear him preach. For most of us, the story ends there.

The book of Jonah however, does not end with Nineveh’s repentance. Instead, the book follows Jonah outside of the walls of Nineveh, and finds him angry with God. Jonah did not avoid going to Nineveh because he was afraid of them, though he would have had every reason to be. They were a savage nation, sacrificing humans to their strange gods; skinning their prisoners alive to use the skins as dried leather for furniture and piling the skulls of their executed on a large mound outside of the city gates to warn foreigners and thieves. Jonah avoids going to Nineveh because they have been perpetual persecutors of Israel, and Jonah wants them to suffer the wrath of God. He knows that God is merciful and that He will forgive them if they ask, and Jonah wants no part of it.

God causes a gourd, a quick growing shrub in that part of the world, to grow up overnight to shadow Jonah from the hot sun, and then prepares a worm to eat it up. This act of God was to teach Jonah one final and crucial lesson about the heart of God.

God asks Jonah if he is angry about the gourd being destroyed. Jonah replies that he has a right to be angry, even to the point of suicide (Jonah 4:9). God’s response is to teach Jonah the contrast between his love for the gourd and God’s love for Nineveh:

“Then said the Lord, ‘Thou has had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand (120,000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?’” (Jonah 4:10, 11)

Jonah was angry over the loss of something that he did nothing to create. God shows him that in Nineveh are people whom God loves, who He did create and who He wants to save. How much more should God do all to reach Nineveh? There are 120,000 people there that cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their left. What kind of person cannot tell that difference? Children! God wants to spare Nineveh because the next generation deserves a chance. He has not changed to this day.

Jesus loved the little children and allowed all that wanted to come near Him and be blessed. God has a special love even now, not only for little children, but for all of the innocent, placed in harm’s way by someone else’s decisions and lifestyles. The next time that you look at someone and hope that they, “get what’s coming to them”, think of the 120,000 children of Nineveh, whom God wanted to save in spite of their parents. The love of Jesus is still great for all who do not deserve it, including you and me.

I See Nothing Wrong!

Numbers 23:18-21

Call me biased, but I see nothing wrong in my children. My son and my daughter make mistakes, no doubt, but I see nothing wrong with them, for they are mine and I love them unconditionally. There is no error that they could make, no wrong that they could perform, that would cause me to beat them, break their legs, rob their future, or destroy their dreams. I love them too much to cause them pain, for they are an extension of me. I may see problems in your kids, but not in mine!

God views every person on the face of the earth as a sheep. Many of the sheep have gone astray and are living on their own in the wilderness, and they need to come to the shepherd to find eternal life. The sheep that dwell with the Savior know His voice (John 10:27), and He refers to them as more than sheep. Those who are saved, He calls His friends (John 15:15).

When Balak, king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse the children of Israel as they passed through his land, Balaam jumped on the opportunity to make some easy money. After ascending a mountain to view an arm of Israel as it sat at camp in the valley, Balaam opened his mouth to curse God’s people, but a blessing came out instead (Numbers 23:11). When Balak moved him to another mountain in order to view Israel from a different vantage point, the result was much the same, with Balaam commenting, “I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:20).

Though Balak had moved Balaam to a different mountain in order to see Israel in a different state (he would do it a third time as well in 23:27), each time God prompted a blessing instead of a curse. Remember, the people that Balaam wants to curse have done plenty to deserve it.

They murmured in the wilderness about having no water (Numbers 20) and then about having to eat manna (Numbers 21). They have been a complaining, miserable people since they left Egypt, yet look at how God views them in Numbers 23:21, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them”. No matter how bad they had lived, God did not see the sin in His people, for He had provided a way of escape through the brazen serpent of Numbers 22.

There is the shout of a king among God’s people when they learn that their heavenly Father is not mad at them, and that He sees no iniquity in His people. It is not that we are living without sinning; it is that God views His Son’s sacrifice over our sins. WE are the ones that dwell on our wrong-doing, while God is dwelling on Jesus’ finished work at the cross.

Just as I know that my children are not perfect in their every action, our heavenly Father knows that we are not perfect either. He no more demands that we be mistake free than we would demand such impossibility from our own children. It is not that God is soft on sin and failure, but it is rather that God was hard on sin and failure in the body of His Son at the cross. God cannot be just if He is hard on Jesus for your sin and then hard on you as well. The price has been paid in the blood of Jesus, so when God sees us, he sees us as His own. Praise God that when the Father sees you, He sees the Son!

Jesus Loves the Little Children

Jonah 4:11

The story of Jonah is well known to all, even if one has never been to Sunday school. We all know that Jonah was the reluctant prophet, called by God to take the message of repentance to a heathen nation, Nineveh. We know that Jonah ran from the call and ended up being swallowed by a whale. After three days and nights in the whale’s belly, he was vomited up on the shore. Then he goes to Nineveh and God moves greatly, stirring repentance in the hearts of all that hear him preach. For most of us, the story ends there.

The book of Jonah however, does not end with Nineveh’s repentance. Instead, the book follows Jonah outside of the walls of Nineveh, and finds him angry with God. Jonah did not avoid going to Nineveh because he was afraid of them, though he would have had every reason to be. They were a savage nation, sacrificing humans to their strange gods; skinning their prisoners alive to use the skins as dried leather for furniture and piling the skulls of their executed on a large mound outside of the city gates to warn foreigners and thieves. Jonah avoids going to Nineveh because they have been perpetual persecutors of Israel, and Jonah wants them to suffer the wrath of God. He knows that God is merciful and that He will forgive them if they ask, and Jonah wants no part of it.

God causes a gourd, a quick growing shrub in that part of the world, to grow up overnight to shadow Jonah from the hot sun, and then prepares a worm to eat it up. This act of God was to teach Jonah one final and crucial lesson about the heart of God.

God asks Jonah if he is angry about the gourd being destroyed. Jonah replies that he has a right to be angry, even to the point of suicide (Jonah 4:9). God’s response is to teach Jonah the contrast between his love for the gourd and God’s love for Nineveh:

“Then said the Lord, ‘Thou has had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand (120,000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?’” (Jonah 4:10, 11)

Jonah was angry over the loss of something that he did nothing to create. God shows him that in Nineveh are people whom God loves, who He did create and who He wants to save. How much more should God do all to reach Nineveh? There are 120,000 people there that cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their left. What kind of person cannot tell that difference? Children! God wants to spare Nineveh because the next generation deserves a chance. He has not changed to this day.

Jesus loved the little children and allowed all that wanted to come near Him and be blessed. God has a special love even now, not only for little children, but for all of the innocent, placed in harm’s way by someone else’s decisions and lifestyles. The next time that you look at someone and hope that they, “get what’s coming to them”, think of the 120,000 children of Nineveh, whom God wanted to save in spite of their parents. The love of Jesus is still great for all who do not deserve it, including you and me.

I See Nothing Wrong!

Numbers 23:18-21

Call me biased, but I see nothing wrong in my children. My son and my daughter make mistakes, no doubt, but I see nothing wrong with them, for they are mine and I love them unconditionally. There is no error that they could make, no wrong that they could perform, that would cause me to beat them, break their legs, rob their future, or destroy their dreams. I love them too much to cause them pain, for they are an extension of me. I may see problems in your kids, but not in mine!

God views every person on the face of the earth as a sheep. Many of the sheep have gone astray and are living on their own in the wilderness, and they need to come to the shepherd to find eternal life. The sheep that dwell with the Savior know His voice (John 10:27), and He refers to them as more than sheep. Those who are saved, He calls His friends (John 15:15).

When Balak, king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse the children of Israel as they passed through his land, Balaam jumped on the opportunity to make some easy money. After ascending a mountain to view an arm of Israel as it sat at camp in the valley, Balaam opened his mouth to curse God’s people, but a blessing came out instead (Numbers 23:11). When Balak moved him to another mountain in order to view Israel from a different vantage point, the result was much the same, with Balaam commenting, “I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:20).

Though Balak had moved Balaam to a different mountain in order to see Israel in a different state (he would do it a third time as well in 23:27), each time God prompted a blessing instead of a curse. Remember, the people that Balaam wants to curse have done plenty to deserve it.

They murmured in the wilderness about having no water (Numbers 20) and then about having to eat manna (Numbers 21). They have been a complaining, miserable people since they left Egypt, yet look at how God views them in Numbers 23:21, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them”. No matter how bad they had lived, God did not see the sin in His people, for He had provided a way of escape through the brazen serpent of Numbers 22.

There is the shout of a king among God’s people when they learn that their heavenly Father is not mad at them, and that He sees no iniquity in His people. It is not that we are living without sinning; it is that God views His Son’s sacrifice over our sins. WE are the ones that dwell on our wrong-doing, while God is dwelling on Jesus’ finished work at the cross.

Just as I know that my children are not perfect in their every action, our heavenly Father knows that we are not perfect either. He no more demands that we be mistake free than we would demand such impossibility from our own children. It is not that God is soft on sin and failure, but it is rather that God was hard on sin and failure in the body of His Son at the cross. God cannot be just if He is hard on Jesus for your sin and then hard on you as well. The price has been paid in the blood of Jesus, so when God sees us, he sees us as His own. Praise God that when the Father sees you, He sees the Son!

Jesus Loves the Little Children

Jonah 4:11

The story of Jonah is well known to all, even if one has never been to Sunday school. We all know that Jonah was the reluctant prophet, called by God to take the message of repentance to a heathen nation, Nineveh. We know that Jonah ran from the call and ended up being swallowed by a whale. After three days and nights in the whale’s belly, he was vomited up on the shore. Then he goes to Nineveh and God moves greatly, stirring repentance in the hearts of all that hear him preach. For most of us, the story ends there.

The book of Jonah however, does not end with Nineveh’s repentance. Instead, the book follows Jonah outside of the walls of Nineveh, and finds him angry with God. Jonah did not avoid going to Nineveh because he was afraid of them, though he would have had every reason to be. They were a savage nation, sacrificing humans to their strange gods; skinning their prisoners alive to use the skins as dried leather for furniture and piling the skulls of their executed on a large mound outside of the city gates to warn foreigners and thieves. Jonah avoids going to Nineveh because they have been perpetual persecutors of Israel, and Jonah wants them to suffer the wrath of God. He knows that God is merciful and that He will forgive them if they ask, and Jonah wants no part of it.

God causes a gourd, a quick growing shrub in that part of the world, to grow up overnight to shadow Jonah from the hot sun, and then prepares a worm to eat it up. This act of God was to teach Jonah one final and crucial lesson about the heart of God.

God asks Jonah if he is angry about the gourd being destroyed. Jonah replies that he has a right to be angry, even to the point of suicide (Jonah 4:9). God’s response is to teach Jonah the contrast between his love for the gourd and God’s love for Nineveh:

“Then said the Lord, ‘Thou has had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand (120,000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?’” (Jonah 4:10, 11)

Jonah was angry over the loss of something that he did nothing to create. God shows him that in Nineveh are people whom God loves, who He did create and who He wants to save. How much more should God do all to reach Nineveh? There are 120,000 people there that cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their left. What kind of person cannot tell that difference? Children! God wants to spare Nineveh because the next generation deserves a chance. He has not changed to this day.

Jesus loved the little children and allowed all that wanted to come near Him and be blessed. God has a special love even now, not only for little children, but for all of the innocent, placed in harm’s way by someone else’s decisions and lifestyles. The next time that you look at someone and hope that they, “get what’s coming to them”, think of the 120,000 children of Nineveh, whom God wanted to save in spite of their parents. The love of Jesus is still great for all who do not deserve it, including you and me.