Nineveh or Nothing

When God told Jonah to go preach in Nineveh, he instead caught a ship going in the opposite direction. But Jonah was miserable as long as he was running from God. And when he was swallowed by a great fish, he cried out to God (see Jonah 2:7). Jonah knew that he needed to return to God and do what He had told him to do.

I love what happened next: “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell
you’ ” (Jonah 3:1–2). Notice the phrase, “the second time.” Where did God send Jonah? Back to Nineveh. What was Jonah running from? Nineveh. When Jonah got right with God, where did he end up? Nineveh. It was Nineveh or nothing.

Each of us as Christians might face a Nineveh in our lives. There may come a moment when we read something in the Bible that we don’t like. Or, God will direct us in a certain way, and we may say, “Well, I don’t really want to do what the Lord wants me to do.” That, in a sense, is our Nineveh.

When Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command, the people of Nineveh turned to God. They believed God, turned from their evil ways, and God relented. Along with you, I have been given my marching orders from Jesus Christ, who told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. There is dynamic, dynamite power in the simple message of the gospel. Don’t be afraid to proclaim it. Go to Nineveh, and see what God will do.