It has always confused me why some people receive grace while others appear not to. But then again, who can really know the mind of God and what he has given to others? I am not attempting to unpack and explain grace completely, that would take far too long!! But as I read the story of Jonah the other day, I realized just how much grace flowed from the story.

I am sure many of you know the story of Jonah. God told Jonah to preach to Nineveh, he refused on account of the pure evil and wickedness in the city so he ran away on a ship toward Tarshish. While he and the other sailors were out at sea, God sent a huge storm which scared everyone on the boat. Jonah admitted it was because he was running away from God and told them to throw him over, they did and the storm stopped. God called a great fish to swallow Jonah where he spent three days and cried out to God for repentance. (I encourage you to grab a Bible and read what happened in those three days and the pray he prayed. In fact, just read the whole story again, it’s short, only four chapters.)

With great supplication and petition before God he begged for grace in the belly of the great fish. God heard his cries and told the fish to spit him out, and it did. Jonah then went to Nineveh and preached against the city. Knowing how wicked they were, he waited to see how God would send fire from the heavens to destroy them! The same forgiveness God showed him, he did not want shown to Nineveh.

But let’s be honest, we have all been there. What we did was nowhere even close to what this person did! It was terrible! Oh but if we could see our own sin through the eyes of God we would weep in shame and sorrow. No one’s sin seems as bad when we gain the proper perspective. We all, like Jonah, think our sin is nothing compared to others. Who do you normally compare you sin to though? Hitler? Child molester? Thieves? Mother Theresa? Billy Graham? Bob Russell? My guess is you tend to compare yourself to the first few rather than the later; because I do too.

It is human nature to compare ourselves to those who make us look good. The truth is though we all are in desperate need of God’s grace and mercy. What we need to work on is seeing how much we need it in our own lives. Jonah was sent to Nineveh to help awake them to their own sinfulness. God used a plant to help Jonah come to the same realization. We must be open to whoever or whatever God sends our way to realize our sinfulness.

If you know much about history, you know it was not too terribly long before Nineveh fell again to false gods and Yahweh did destroy them. Also, remember how quick Jonah was to forget about the grace and mercy God showed him? If we are not careful, we too will just as quick to forget the grace of the cross.