COMPASSION 1 - God feels sorry for us sinners.

Compassion 1 - English files 

Barmherzigkeit 1 - German files  

Devotional Thoughts about Jonah Chapters 3 and 4

If Jonah was asked later in life to tell about the highlights of his Nineveh experience, the part about the big fish may not have even ranked at the top.

Although Jonah had known of God’s merciful character for years (4:2), I’m sure he was still surprised at the lengths to which He would go to get His message to the Ninevites.

And then the disap­proving prophet had a front row seat to watch those awful people turn to God. They didn’t deserve it! But of course that’s the whole point: none of those whom God redeems deserves it—not any of us. We all need His mercy.

After God tells Jonah His reason for sparing Nineveh, arguing from the lesser (the plant) to the greater (the people), the story abruptly closes, and we don’t actually find out whether Jonah ever changed his attitude.

But this open ending has always made me go back up into the text to try to find the point. God’s unique practice of valuing people lies at the heart of His mercy.

Lord, thank You for your compassion. Please help me extend it to others.

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If you're interested in the lesson files, simply click on the appropriate link above to download them in the desired language. See the Informational Pages in the right column for more about the lesson series. The next post and the next lesson will be the second in the topic Compassion.