In the Old Testament the main difference between the Hebrews and the gentiles was that God selected the Hebrew people to be a light to the rest of the world, not because they were any better. Today the main difference between Christians and the rest of the world is that God has selected Christians to be a light to the world and not because we’re any better. God’s selection does not reflect the goodness of the Hebrew people or the goodness of the Christian people; rather it’s a reflection of God’s own compassion and graciousness. God did not choose the Hebrews or us Christians because of who we are but rather in spite of who we are, so that through us He can show His graciousness and compassion to the rest of the world.

One-day God calls a man named Jonah and tells Him to take a message to the people on Nineveh, a message that stated that God was going to destroy Nineveh at the end of forty days. To which Jonah responded, thank you, but no thank you and fled from God. Can you blame Jonah for running? God was sending Jonah to preach to one of the most evil and despicable cities of its time. But Jonah is no different than those of us who call ourselves Christians because God has also called us to take his message, not necessarily to the darkest parts of the world but surely to the people around us. But just like Jonah we’ve decided to run from God. We know that we should proclaim God’s message but we justify our decision by saying, I’m not equipped to do this and they don’t want to hear the message anyway, they’re too powerful, too evil and they’re not going to listen. The problem is that we overemphasize our part and underestimate God’s.

After a little bit of convincing from God Jonah decides to obey God and proclaim the message.

Jonah 3:1-6 NIV

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

As Christians we forget that when God calls a person to do something big or small He’s not depending on the talents and abilities of the person. What we often forget is that God is always working behind the scenes to prepare the hearts and minds of the people, even the most difficult ones. For example, historically we know in that area of the world there had been a solar eclipse, which was a bad omen for them. There were also two plagues in the area that killed thousands of people. And there were three warrior tribes about one hundred miles away approaching Nineveh to destroy them. At the time Jonah arrived things were not going well for them. Jonah began to proclaim the message of God and by the end of the first day everyone from the king on down had repented.

Jonah 3:10 NIV

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

As we look back on our own lives we can see how God was causing things to happen, things that made us receptive to His message. That it wasn’t only the messenger, it was a combination of the messenger, the message and other situations that were happening in our lives at the time. Now it’s our turn to be a light to the world, it’s our turn to proclaim God’s message. But like Jonah our tendency is to run from the calling because we don’t know or we forget that God is working behind the scenes to prepare the hearts and minds of the people hearing the message. And I think we also forget that God did not choose us because of our graciousness and compassion but rather to show forth His graciousness and compassion. God has called us to proclaim His message. And just in case you’ve forgotten, the message is simple:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 NIV

It’s simple, our responsibility is to proclaim the message. It’s Gods responsibility to change the hearts.

Heavenly Father help me so that nothing in this world would be an excuse not to take forth your message; on the contrary, that everything I do in my life would be intended to lead others to enjoy a relationship with you, this is not a choice for me but a responsibility that I have, and you take care of transforming their hearts just as you did with me.